Revealed: How glamorous German Countess millionaire connected vile Jeffrey Epstein to the heart of UK government – and called him ‘baby’

She was a glamorous German countess with a huge fortune who was one of Jeffrey Epstein’s closest confidants.

Nicole Junkermann has resigned as a trustee of a cancer charity after her 20-year friendship with Epstein was revealed and newly released emails showed she may have provided a link between Epstein and the heart of Westminster.

The 50-year-old London-based tech investor persuaded health secretary Matt Hancock to appoint him to the government’s influential ‘Healthtech Advisory Board’.

He even attempted to arrange a meeting between the predatory financier and former prime minister David Cameron.

The former model and entrepreneur has been tasked with creating a ‘culture of innovation’ and guiding the government on its ‘mission to transform technology in the NHS’.

He was photographed standing directly behind Hancock, 47, at the board’s inaugural meeting; He must wish that this photo would now be deleted from the archives.

Last week, tech investor Junkermann resigned as a trustee of the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity after the extent of his nearly two-decade friendship with Epstein was revealed.

Lancaster University, where he visited as a professor, is also reviewing his situation.

Junkermann is pictured to the right of former health secretary Matt Hancock (centre), whom he persuaded to appoint him to the government’s influential ‘Healthtech Advisory Board’.

Junkermann (left) married Italian Count Ferdinando Brachetti Peretti (right) in 2017. Mr Peretti is part of a wealthy dynasty that controls Italian energy giant API.

Hundreds of emails released by the United States Department of Justice suggest the pedophile began corresponding with her in May 2009, two months before he was released from prison after serving 13 months for soliciting sex from 14-year-old girls.

Junkermann described Epstein as ‘Mr Wonderful’ in a message in which he suggested he visit him when he was released from prison.

However, a diary entry said to have been written in 2003 shows that they met years earlier.

Transferring her diary entry to an email, she wrote: ‘I can’t sleep, I’m thinking about Jefrey. There are very few people in my life that I want to spend time with; he’s one of them.’ How can I trust him? ‘How can I feel such sensitivity?’

By 2011, the two appeared to have fallen in love with each other. Junkermann called Epstein a ‘baby’ and they discussed a mysterious offer; Junkermann gushed: ‘You make me smile, you are in my heart.’

While talking about an investment he was considering, he asked the embarrassed financier: ‘Dad, how are you? Should I hedge at 1.37 now or wait? Kiss.’

By 2012, stock markets are becoming more nervous.

The stunning Nicole Junkermann (center) is seen with Leona Koenig (left) and Eva Dichand (right) at the 65th Cannes Film Festival in 2012.

At one point, Epstein bristled, saying he “took the time to give you my best advice” but “didn’t see the slightest sign that it was a two-way street.” [sic] – not interesting [sic] person, gesture.’

The German entrepreneur protested that Epstein had a selective memory and listed gifts that appeared to include a ‘cashmere bathrobe’ and ‘your jewellery’. [sic] You didn’t appreciate it.’

The emails show that Epstein offered Junkermann the job, saying he would ‘help me a lot’.

He is said to have arranged to meet French banker Ariane de Rothschild and billionaire private equity mogul Leon Black.

He also received a letter of recommendation from former US treasury secretary Larry Summers, which helped him get nominated for the Young Global Leaders program run by the World Economic Forum, according to an earlier report.

Junkermann asks him in an email: ‘Do you trust me?’

Epstein replied: ‘Is there any reason why I shouldn’t?’

Underscoring their closeness, Epstein discussed having a baby in January 2013.

In an email to Junkermann, she wrote: ‘I thought about how the baby business works, what intervention you would need from me, what’s left that I haven’t done before… here it is’

‘Wow!’ he replied. to which he replied: ‘Is that a code word?’

Epstein asked: ‘Where is it? How ? What did you expect from me, from me? This makes a better dream come true.’

Epstein tried to introduce Junkermann to Microsoft founder Bill Gates at a party and emailed him: ‘I have Gates on Wednesday if you want to join too..’

‘Also why don’t you consider working with me/me, you organize the most interesting businesses in the world, you can invest together, you can restructure the household staff, you can help me a lot and you may find it difficult.’

He replied: ‘Let’s discuss this….I tried to call you’ and then added ‘I miss you’.

Epstein, famous for trafficking young girls with his private jet called the ‘Lolita Express’, taunted Junkermann about his preferred mode of transportation.

He wrote: ‘Why are you still flying commercial, it’s time to buy your own plane. You can afford it.”

He appears to have become a trusted advisor before his arrest. According to one report, they co-invested in an Israeli security startup called Carbyne.

In July 2017, Epstein included her in an email to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in which he argued that using Cyprus to avoid taxes was ‘stupid, outdated and dangerous’.

Junkermann was of the same opinion, saying that Cyprus had ‘raised its eyebrows’ and that he would ‘suggest Luxembourg’ as an alternative.

That same year – 2017 – she married 66-year-old Italian Count Ferdinando Brachetti Peretti, part of a wealthy dynasty that controls Italian energy giant API.

Hundreds of emails released by the United States Department of Justice suggest that pedophile Epstein began corresponding with Junkermann in May 2009. Junkermann is seen here with her husband Ferdinando Peretti

Junkermann (center) with German businessman Patrick Faber-Castell (left) and Trinidadian-German singer Haddaway

But Justice Department files show that she remained close to Epstein even after she became a countess and still continued to introduce him to her.

In fact, he continued to correspond with the convicted pedophile until his second arrest.

In 2018 he wrote to Epstein: ‘I’m hosting a lunch for David Cameron on the west coast in March, would you like to attend or is there anyone else I should invite?’

Shortly before Epstein was found hanged in his prison cell in August 2019, Junkermann referenced a letter published in The New York Times defending him.

In an email first reported by The Telegraph, he wrote: ‘Fingers crossed it’s just a wave and it disappears again…… Bad timing on the whole of Me Too.’

Junkermann’s connection to Epstein was only revealed later this month when the entire trove of evidence was revealed.

Born in Düsseldorf in 1975, the artist is the only daughter of powerful German businessman Heinz Junkermann, who took her to board meetings from the age of 12.

He grew up in Marbella, Spain, studied business and management at the International University of Monaco, and attended Harvard Business School in the United States.

But it has made its bones in the City of London, where NJF Capital has invested in dozens of tech companies, including Owkin, an AI healthcare company valued at more than $1bn (£735m) that has deals with the NHS.

This perhaps explains how Hancock, who resigned as an MP in the 2024 General Election, became a target.

The mandate of the ‘Healthtech Advisory Board’ was to ‘assist policy making, challenge decision-making and act as a sounding board for new ideas’.

It is unclear when he left the post, but Epstein’s revelations were too much for those running the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, who appointed him as a trustee in 2024.

The charity is raising funds for the Royal Marsden hospital, a specialist cancer centre, which William and Kate became patrons of in January last year and which treated the princess for cancer.

It is understood that Junkermann also resigned from his position as a visiting professor at Lancaster University and his Linked-in page was closed recently.

She says she ‘deeply regrets’ her conversations with Epstein and feels deceived and misled by him.

A spokesman for the Countess said: ‘The scale of Jeremy Epstein’s crimes is appalling. As a woman and mother, Nicole was completely deceived and misled by him and deeply regrets her conversations regarding personal and professional matters.

‘These conversations took place at a time when she was vulnerable and led her to trust him and consult him on the most personal matters.

Nicole was horrified when she realized his true nature and the pain he inflicted on women and girls through his abuse of trust, power and manipulation. His thoughts are entirely with his victims and he looks forward to the day when the real predators will face justice.’

Junkermann married her 66-year-old husband in what one newspaper described as “a secret (and) very intimate ceremony attended only by witnesses.”

A glowing article published in the newspaper Il Mattino in 2019 described Junkermann as ‘the British government’s technology advisor’.

In 2012 he hosted another Italian publication at his home in South Kensington, and of the 40 start-ups in his portfolio, ‘fully 12 – around a third – are considered unicorns: their average size is over €10 billion.’ he boasted.

Junkermann, a Real Madrid fan who speaks five languages, added: ‘Everything I have built, I have built myself.’