A list of nearly 200 people connected to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein could be published later on Tuesday, after a deadline for court objections to their publication passed at midnight.
Until now, Epstein's associates have only been named as Jane or John Does in court papers.
US Judge Loretta Preska ruled last month that documents relating to more than 170 people who were either associates, friends or victims of Epstein should be made public.
They include 40 documents of evidence from Johanna Sjoberg, who has claimed Britain's Prince Andrew touched her breast while sitting on a couch inside the US billionaire’s Manhattan apartment in 2001.
Buckingham Palace previously said the allegations are “categorically untrue”.
The documents are part of a 2015 US defamation case by Virginia Giuffre against Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite who supplied Epstein with underage girls.
Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, in December, Ms Giuffre said: “Finally we are hearing members of the US government senators about the need for transparency and a call to arms for accountability!!
“There’s going to be a lot of nervous ppl over Christmas and New Years, 170 to be exact, who’s on the naughty list?
“This (would not) be possible without the Honourable Judge Preska.”
The individuals who are set to be named in the documents had 14 days to appeal against the judge’s decision, which has now passed.
Ms Giuffre settled her civil claim against Maxwell, but representatives of the media have since argued documents that were sealed as part of the case should be made public.
Judge Preska ordered some individuals should be named because they had already given interviews to the media – including Ms Sjoberg.
Andrew stepped down from British public life after the furore over his friendship with Epstein and paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case to Ms Giuffre, a woman he claimed never to have met.
The duke was cast out of the working British monarchy and no longer uses his HRH style after Ms Giuffre, who was trafficked by Epstein, accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17.
In January 2022, ahead of his legal settlement, his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, stripped Andrew of all of his honorary military roles.
Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.
The death was ruled a suicide.
Maxwell has been imprisoned since July 2020, despite numerous attempts from her defence counsel to have her released on bail.
She was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the federal court in the Southern District of New York in June last year.
The socialite indicated her desire to appeal shortly after her conviction, with her lawyers claiming victims had “faded, distorted and motivated memories”.
Her appeal is currently scheduled to be heard in November next year. – Additional reporting: PA
