Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend of pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in a jailhouse suicide, believes she can evade being prosecuted in connection with Epstein because she has “serious dirt” on powerful people, a former friend of the Maxwell family has claimed.

Ghislaine has been widely accused of supplying a string of young and underage females to Epstein for his sexual gratification.

Ghislaine is “totally convinced” that she can stay in hiding, and is currently being protected by a coterie of rich friends who are even said to be paying her legal bills.

A family friend, Laura Goldman, told U.K. paper The Sun that Ghislaine is texting friends from her secret hideaway.

Goldman, who was friends with both Maxwell and her sister Isabel, told The Sun: “Ghislaine and her sister Isabel remain totally convinced that she’ll escape any criminal convictions and will eventually clear the family name and return to high society once the dust has settled.

“She obviously has some serious dirt on someone to be so sure of herself in the circumstances,” Goldman said.

Epstein’s connections included some of the most powerful people in the world, such as Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. Ghislaine (pronounced “Gillayne” with a hard “g”) introduced Epstein to Prince Andrew, whom she had once dated.

Goldman, a former New York City stockbroker who used to mix in the same circles as Epstein and Maxwell, before cutting them both off after the financier’s first arrest in 2008, told The Sun: “She has wealthy connections who hide her and even pay some legal fees. She can stay out of the public eye as long as she wants.”

Goldman told The Sun that Maxwell doesn’t believe she has done anything wrong, but was “relieved” when she heard of Epstein’s death: “It may have placed her more in the spotlight, but at least he couldn’t turn on her,” she said.

Ghislaine Maxwell has only been photographed once since the scandal surrounding Epstein erupted again this year with his arrest, allowing herself to be snapped at a burger joint in Los Angeles.