No secret agreement with Sheikh Hasina in Epstein files: Rumor Scanner
Rumor Scanner investigated the claim by reviewing the relevant document, identified as file EFTA02258065, and found that the message was not sent by Leslie Groff. Instead, it was part of a text exchange between Groff and former Norwegian foreign minister Børge Brende.
Claims circulating on social media that an assistant of Jeffrey Epstein reached a secret agreement with Bangladesh's former prime minister Sheikh Hasina are false, according to fact-checking organisation Rumor Scanner.
The organisation said that in 2026, the United States Department of Justice released nearly 3.5 million pages of documents, more than 2,000 videos and around 180,000 photographs under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. These materials, widely referred to as the Epstein files, detail Epstein's connections with prominent individuals around the world.
Following the release, social media posts alleged that on 21 September 2018, Leslie Groff, one of Epstein's assistants, had reached an undisclosed agreement with Sheikh Hasina. The claim was based on a message attributed to Groff that read, "Wow. Really appreciate, sorry about this but it is a bilat my team had agreed with PM of Bangladesh."
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Rumor Scanner investigated the claim by reviewing the relevant document, identified as file EFTA02258065, and found that the message was not sent by Leslie Groff. Instead, it was part of a text exchange between Groff and former Norwegian foreign minister Børge Brende.
According to the fact-checking report, Brende was scheduled to attend a dinner at Epstein's New York residence at 8:00pm on 21 September 2018. Groff had messaged him to confirm his attendance. In response, Brende said his team had already agreed to a bilateral diplomatic meeting with the then prime minister of Bangladesh at the same time.
Due to the scheduling conflict, Brende later rescheduled the dinner for an earlier time, between 6pm and 6:30pm, Rumor Scanner said.
The organisation added that the Epstein files contain no evidence that Leslie Groff or any of Epstein's associates reached any agreement with Sheikh Hasina on any matter.
The viral posts, it said, misrepresented a message sent by Norway's former foreign minister and falsely attributed it to Epstein's assistant.
Rumor Scanner further said the claim amounts to a false narrative that is not supported by the documents.
Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy American financier and convicted sex offender, was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges in the United States. He died in a New York prison before his trial began, an incident that later sparked global debate and conspiracy theories. The US Department of Justice subsequently confirmed that Epstein died by suicide.
