Who was Roberto Giordano, the Argentine hairdresser on the Epstein list

There is an old local adage that goes: “There is always an Argentine.” It means that, in key world events, it is more likely than not that an Argentine is involved. The Epstein list is not the exception to the rule. The U.S. Justice Department recently released the complete files of convicted child molester and human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, who died in an apparent suicide in 2019. Included in the documents were a flurry of wealthy and famous individuals like Bill Gates, Donald Trump, and Bill Clinton, who shared trips and meetings with Epstein. Also mentioned in the files was a name less known worldwide, that of Argentine socialite and stylist Roberto Giordano, famous in the country for organizing fashion shows. Giordano died in 2024. According to five documents, he appears to have received at least US$1,500 in three wire transfers of US$500 each from Epstein himself in early 2006. The records of the JPMorgan Private Bank show “Agencia Punta del Este” as the reference. There is currently no explanation of why the stylist could have received money from Epstein, although the financier had travelled in 2016 to Uruguay, where Giordano lived and launched his career. Who was Roberto Giordano? Roberto Giordano was a stylist, hairdresser, and businessman who organized and hosted popular and televised fashion shows, the first one in 1979, in the coastal city of Punta del Este, Uruguay.  Famous for his histrionic personality, he earned the nickname of “The Celebrity Hairdresser” — Argentine TV icons Susana Giménez and Mirtha Legrand were part of his clientele. During the 1980s and 1990s Giordano launched the careers of top female models Valeria Mazza, Nicole Neumann, and Carolina “Pampita” Ardohaín. He usually presented shows with TV host and model “Teté” Coustarot, where he coined his now-famous phrase: “What a night, Teté!” One of the most commented episodes he was involved in was an incident in November 1995, when he was assaulted by fans of River Plate in the Monumental field. It was then that he immortalized another catch-phrase: “Don’t hit me, I’m Giordano!” He opened 25 hair salons in Argentina, France, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, and Paraguay. In addition to his successful ventures, he was also involved in several legal problems. In 2002, one of his salons was raided when he was the subject of a tax evasion investigation.  In December 2010, the Commercial Court ordered his company’s bankruptcy. In 2014, he was convicted of failing to pay his employees’ retirement funds. After the COVID-19 lockdown, he moved to Maldonado, Uruguay, near Punta del Este, where he had begun his career. In May 2024, he was sentenced to three years in prison when the judiciary proved that he hid 17 assets and properties through three shell companies. He aimed to prevent creditors from collecting their debts. He died on November 22, 2024, at the age of 79, at the Mater Dei Sanatorium in the Palermo neighborhood, as a result of cardiac arrest during surgery. His remains were buried in the Chacarita Cemetery in Buenos Aires.