Sex offender Jeffrey Epstein paid school tuition for the children of then US Gov Virgin Islandswhose wife tried to secure student visas and work permits for young women associated with Epstein, according to the updated court filing Thursday from JPMorgan Chase.
These tuition fees, the length and amount of which have not been made public, allowed then-Gov. John de Jongh Jr. “to direct additional money to his political campaigns,” JPMorgan said in a filing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Epstein also “offered to fund Governor de Jongh’s defense in the governor’s criminal case” where the then-governor was charged in 2015 in connection with using public funds to improve security at his private residence, the filing said. Those charges were dropped by the Virgin Islands Department of Justice in early 2016.
JPMorgan says Epstein’s largesse was part of his broader effort to build influence on the islands.
The filing is part of the bank’s defense against a US Virgin Islands civil lawsuit alleging JPMorgan facilitated Epstein’s trafficking of young women. Epstein, who was a JPMorgan client from 1998 to 2013, owned two private islands in the area and abused several young women at his residence on one of those islands.
JPMorgan denies wrongdoing in the case.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is set to be ousted Friday over the Virgin Islands lawsuit, as well as a similar lawsuit filed against the bank by Epstein’s accuser.
“Let there be no doubt that Epstein’s goal was to gain influence, First Lady [Cecile] de Jongh specifically advised Epstein on how to gain control of the USVI political class,” the filing reads.
The document also refers to one time when Cecile de Jongh “asked Epstein what visas the ‘ladies’ had and tried to arrange English-as-a-second-language courses for them.”
Former Governor de Jongh served as Governor of the Virgin Islands from 2007 to 2015.
Cecile de Jongh worked for Epstein and managed his companies in the territory. She earned $200,000 in 2007 alone.
CNBC reached out to de Jonghs for comment through the Virgin Islands asset management company where the former governor is a director.
The filing was first filed on Tuesday with extensive redactions, but was refiled on Thursday and some details about former governor de Jongh and Cecile are now visible. Also visible are allegations related to the current governor of the Virgin Islands, Albert Bryan Jr. and his immediate predecessor in that office, Kenneth Mapp.
Bryan, who is scheduled to be deposed in the case June 6, suggested schools to which Epstein should donate $50,000, the filing said. Bryan also made a $30,000 donation to the Virgin Islands Little League, according to the document.
Portions of the file that were seen on Tuesday said the Virgin Islands government was “complicit in the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein.”
JPMorgan said Epstein — who died in 2019 by suicide in prison while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges — gave top officials in the territory money, advice and favors while they looked the other way as he trafficked young people there by women.
A spokesperson for the Office of the Attorney General of the Virgin Islands said in an emailed statement in response to the updated filing: “JPMorgan Chase facilitated the abuse of Jeffrey Epstein and should be held accountable for breaking the law.”
“This is a clear attempt to shift the blame to JPMorgan Chase, which had a legal responsibility to report evidence of human trafficking in Epstein’s possession and failed to do so,” the spokesman said.
The document calls Cecile de Jongh, who ran Epstein’s companies there when she was first lady, a “ready partner” in helping Epstein transport young women for exploitation to the Virgin Islands, where he had a home.
The bank alleged that Cecile de Jongh was “Epstein’s main intermediary for spreading money and influence in the USVI government”. She said in the filing that she emailed him in 2011 proposed language for a bill in the Virgin Islands Legislature that would update sex offender surveillance laws.
“This is the suggested language; will it work for you?” she asked in that email, according to the filing.
The document also states that Epstein, who was a registered sex offender due to his 2008 conviction in Florida state court for soliciting sex from a minor, replied: “We should add out of the country for more than 7 days or I couldn’t take a last minute day trip to Tortola.”
JPMorgan claimed that despite receiving “lucrative tax incentives” and “lax enforcement” of his Virgin Islands sex offender status, Epstein “still could not freely transport and exploit young women without the assistance of USVI government officials.”
The filing said Cecile de Jongh “arranged Epstein to meet with a local immigration attorney to assist at least one” young woman who needed a visa to visit US soil.
Cecile de Jongh also “contacted the University of the Virgin Islands … to see if the three young women could enroll there to obtain student visas,” the filing said.
“Perhaps aware of the risk of having a registered sex offender sign the letter, First Lady de Jongh wrote to Epstein that he should consider whether “[he] should sign [the letter] or one of us,” the document says.
“Ultimately, UVI created a custom class to enroll the victims and provide cover for their presence on the grounds — the same year Epstein donated $20,000 to the university through one of his companies,” the filing states.
“In addition to visas, some of the young women Epstein brought to the island also needed
employment,” the filing states.
The document stated that when one of these women needed a dental license: “First Lady de Jongh approached the director of the USVI Department of Health’s Office of Professional Licensing and Health Planning about a ‘new practice law’ that would have ‘significant’ changes and reliefs for reciprocity.’
“The director wrote to Ms. de Jongh that once the act went before a Senate committee, he would have a ‘clearer idea of what [the young woman’s] options are moving forward,” it read.
The submission by alleged Cecile de Jongh also reached out to contacts in the Attorney General’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office regarding the new rules.
“Ultimately, First Lady de Jongh was successful,” the filing said. “The young woman eventually caved in
established a local dental office in the USVI and shared an office with Epstein’s companies.”
The allegations detail that Cecile advised Epstein on how to use his money to control politicians in the Virgin Islands, the filing states that Epstein, at her suggestion, “explored paying monthly advances to USVI politicians to secure their ‘loyalty and access.'”
“First Lady de Jongh suggested that Epstein ‘consider placing Celestino [White] on a kind of monthly deposit. This is what will get you his loyalty and access,” the document says.
White was a senator from the Virgin Islands.
The filing also details how Epstein frequently met with management at the Virgin Islands Port Authority, which leased him hangar space at its airport where women were brought in for Epstein.
Cecile de Jongh at one point asked Epstein on behalf of her husband, the governor, “if he would support” the offer of then-Sen. Carlton Dowe to return to the Port Authority, the record said.
Dowe, according to a message from Cecile, would be a “good person” for us there, the file said.
“Due to his government connections, Epstein was able to rely on his ‘great relationship’ with officials there to avoid scrutiny or detection when traveling through USVI airports accompanied by young women as registered sex offenders,” the filing states.
“In short, in exchange for Epstein’s cash and donations, USVI made his life easy,” the JPMorgan filing said.
The document added, “The government mitigated any burden of his status as a sex offender. And made sure no one asked too much about him transporting and keeping young girls on his island.”
