Jeffrey Epstein paid tuition for the children of the governor and first lady of the U.S. Virgin Islands, including at Skidmore College in New York, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said in court documents.
Cecile de Jongh, wife of then USVI Governor John de Jongh Jr., dispatched Epstein in August 2011 E-mail with the subject line “Please Approve,” attaching a $25,000 tuition invoice for Skidmore, a private liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. The email is among dozens of previously sealed documents the bank filed Wednesday night in Manhattan federal court.
JPMorgan is fighting a lawsuit filed by the USVI, accusing it of facilitating the sex trafficking of Epstein. The bank defends itself in part by alleging that the USVI government did much more itself to aid the crimes of Epstein, who had a private retreat there on an island, Little Saint James.
JPMorgan accused Cecile de Jongh, who worked as a bureau chief for Epstein, in a May filing, of acting as his “primary conduit for spreading money and influence through the USVI.” But emails released Wednesday provide additional details underscoring the closeness of their relationship.
The latest filing also indicates that JPMorgan continues to vigorously fight the USVI lawsuit even after announcing on Monday that it had agreed to settle a similar lawsuit brought by victims of Epstein’s abuse for $290 million.
The USVI is asking the judge to block JPMorgan from raising an “unclean hands” defense, arguing that the doctrine does not apply to government actors. Neither de Jongh nor a USVI attorney responded to requests for comment on Thursday.
A spokeswoman for the USVI attorney general’s office said last month that JPMorgan, “which had a legal responsibility to report evidence in its possession of Epstein’s human trafficking,” was trying to shift blame. on the territory.
Tuition Epstein paid for Jongh’s children pushed his pay as an office manager to $200,000 in 2009, according to JPMorgan. A year’s tuition at Skidmore currently costs around $65,000. , without room and board, depending on the school. website.
The bank claims that in return, it gave him access to the USVI’s political elite, who granted him valuable tax advantages and even allowed him to participate in the debate on laws that might affect him.
“Offenders and Predators”
In May 2011 E-mail In an exchange included in JPMorgan’s court filing, Epstein and de Jongh discussed USVI’s plans to update its sex offender registration law to discuss the bill’s possible impact on him. Epstein was registered in the United States as a sex offender after his 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Epstein suggested that the USVI could revise the law to apply more narrowly to “predators”, a category from which he apparently excluded himself.
“Perhaps we should distinguish between offenders and predators,” Epstein wrote in the email to de Jongh. He also said a provision for exemptions from the requirements of the law “should be broader” to avoid affecting his privacy and business.
It’s unclear how widely the email was shared, although de Jongh’s response asked if Epstein wanted to wait for others to respond. She later wrote that the case “must be settled” in a few days because the attorney general had to submit something by the end of the month.
“I don’t want to send emails back and forth,” she added.
According to JPMorgan, Epstein was unhappy with the law passed in June 2012, and de Jongh promised she would find ways for him to circumvent the restrictions. According to emails released Wednesday night, the two expressed frustration that a USVI politician identified only as “Russell” betrayed them.
“I know it’s been a horrible week and I’m so sorry for how things turned out,” de Jongh writing. “Not being able to take someone at their word is incredibly frustrating.” In a likely reference to her husband, she said Russell ‘fucked John’ on another bill, but said they could work with other politicians and officials to give you ‘status quo discretion’ .
“Have the ladies signed up? »
Some of the other emails detail Jongh’s efforts to help Epstein secure student visas for young women by arranging for them to attend the University of the Virgin Islands.
“Have the ladies signed up? de Jongh followed Epstein in June 2013 E-mail. “It’s not too late for the fall semester?” As we discussed, they have to come down and register and show the ability to pay.
Epstein was a client at JPMorgan between 1998 and 2013, when the bank cut ties with the financier. JPMorgan pointed out that Epstein’s ties to the USVI government lasted much longer. A 2017 E-mail shows Epstein communicating directly with the USVI’s environmental commissioner about the aftermath of a hurricane and the territory’s likely need for money.
In October 2019 E-mailMonths after Epstein was arrested for sex trafficking and later found dead in his Manhattan jail cell, a group of USVI officials report a New York Times investigation into tax incentives by the territory to Epstein.
“I personally believe the questions open us up to public scrutiny,” USVI official Margarita Benjamin wrote.
