Epstein paid for the education of the children of the governor of the Virgin Islands

Sex offender Jeffrey Epstein paid for the schooling of the children of the then-governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, whose wife made efforts to obtain student visas and work permits for young women associated with Epstein, according to the updated court. registration Thursday to JPMorgan Chase.

Those tuition payments, the duration and amounts of which were not disclosed, allowed the then governor. John de Jong Jr. “to funnel additional money into his political campaigns,” JPMorgan said in a filing in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Epstein also “offered to fund Governor de Jong’s defense in the governor’s criminal case,” where the then-governor was indicted in 2015 in connection with the use of public funds to improve security at his private residence, according to the filing. These charges were dropped in early 2016 by the Virgin Islands Department of Justice.

JPMorgan claims Epstein’s largesse was part of his broader effort to build influence in the islands.

The statement is part of the bank’s defense against a US Virgin Islands civil lawsuit alleging that JPMorgan facilitated sex trafficking of young women to Epstein. Epstein, who was a JPMorgan client between 1998 and 2013, owned two private islands on the property and abused several young women at his residence on one of those islands.

JPMorgan denies any responsibility in this case.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is set to be ousted Friday in a Virgin Island 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, the first lady [Cecile] de Jong was clearly advising Epstein on how to buy control of the USVI political class,” the document says.

The document also mentions a case where Cécile de Jong “asked Epstein what kind of visas the ‘ladies’ had and tried to arrange for them to take English as a second language.”

Former Governor de Jong served as Governor of the Virgin Islands from 2007 to 2015.

Cecile de Jong worked for Epstein, running his companies on the site. She made $200,000 in 2007 alone, the documents say.

CNBC reached out to the de Jongs for comment through a Virgin Islands asset management firm, of which the former governor is a director.

The document was first registered on Tuesday with extensive revisions, but it was re-filed on Thursday, and some details about former Gov. de Jong and Cecile are now visible. Also visible are accusations related to the current governor of the Virgin Islands, Albert Bryan Jr., and his immediate predecessor in office, Kenneth Mapp.

Bryan, who is due to be ousted in the June 6 case, offered schools that Epstein should donate $50,000, the statement said. According to the document, Bryan also asked for $30,000 for the Virgin Islands Minor League.

Part of the documents seen on Tuesday said the government of the Virgin Islands was “involved 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 senior officials in the territory money, advice and favors as they looked the other way when he traded young women there.

A spokesman for the Virgin Islands Attorney General’s Office, in a statement emailed in response to the updated filing, said: “JPMorgan Chase facilitated Jeffrey Epstein’s abuses and should be held accountable for violating the law.”

“This is a clear attempt to shift the blame to JPMorgan Chase, which was legally responsible for reporting Epstein’s evidence of human trafficking in its possession, but failed to do so,” the spokesman said.

The document named Cecile de Jong, who ran Epstein’s companies there when she was first lady, as a “willing partner” in helping Epstein transport young women for exploitation in the Virgin Islands, where he had a home.

The bank claimed that Cécile de Jong was “Epstein’s main channel for spreading money and influence in the USVI government.” The statement said she sent him an email in 2011 proposing the wording of a bill in the Virgin Islands legislature that would update sex offender monitoring laws.

“This is the suggested language; will it work for you?” she asked in that email, according to the statement.

The document also says that Epstein, who was registered as a sex offender due to a Florida state court conviction in 2008 for sexually soliciting a minor, responded: “We have to add more than 7 days from the country, otherwise I couldn’t would go on a day trip to Tortola, at the last minute.”

JPMorgan argued that Epstein, despite receiving “lucrative tax breaks” and “weak enforcement” of his status as a Virgin Islands sex offender, “still could not freely transport and exploit young women without the help of USVI government officials.”

The statement said that Cecile de Jong “arranged for Epstein to meet with a local immigration lawyer to help at least one” young woman who needs a visa to visit US soil.

Cecile de Jong also “contacted the University of the Virgin Islands … to see if the three young women could apply for student visas,” the statement said.

“Perhaps recognizing the risk of a registered sex offender signing the letter, First Lady de Jong wrote to Epstein that he should consider[he] must sign [the letter] or one of us,” the document says.

“Eventually, UVI organized a special class to recruit victims and cover their presence on the premises – that same year, Epstein donated $20,000 to the university through one of his companies,” the statement said.

“In addition to visas, some of the young women Epstein brought to the island also required visas.
employment,” the statement says.

The document stated that when one of these women needed a dental license, “First Lady de Jong approached the director of the Office of Occupational Licensing and Health Planning at the Virgin Islands Department of Health about a ‘new practice act’ that would have ‘significant implications’.” changes and reciprocity discounts.”

“The director wrote to Ms. de Jong that once the act was submitted to the Senate Committee, she would have ‘a clearer idea of ​​what [the young woman’s] options are moving forward,” the post reads.

The statement alleges that Cécile de Jong has also reached out to contacts at the attorney general’s office and the solicitor general’s office about the new rules.

“Ultimately, First Lady de Jong was successful,” the statement said. “The young woman finally put
opened a local dental practice at USVI and shared an office with Epstein’s companies.”

Detailing the allegations, Cecile advised Epstein on how to use his money to control politicians in the Virgin Islands, the filing said that Epstein, at her suggestion, “explored paying monthly fees to USVI politicians to ensure their ‘loyalty and access'”.

“First Lady de Jong invited Epstein to consider appointing Celestino [White] on some monthly fee. This is what will bring you his loyalty and access, ”the document says.

White was a senator from the Virgin Islands.

The document also details how Epstein often met with the Virgin Islands Port Authority, which leased to him a hangar at its airport where women were brought for Epstein.

Cecile de Jong at one point asked Epstein on behalf of her husband, the governor, if he would “support” the then senator’s proposal. Carlton Dow to return to the Port Authority, the statement said.

Doe, according to Cecile, would be “a good person for us” there, the statement said.

“Based on his government connections, traveling through the USVI airport escorted by young women as a registered sex offender, Epstein could rely on his ‘excellent relationship’ with officials there to avoid scrutiny or detection,” the statement said.

“In exchange for Epstein’s money and gifts, USVI made his life easier,” JPMorgan said in a statement.

Document added, “The government eased any burden of his status as a sex offender. And it made sure no one asked too many questions about his transportation and keeping the young girls on his island.”