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Jeffrey Epstein paid tuition for the kids of the US Virgin Islands’ governor and first woman, together with at New York’s Skidmore School, JPMorgan Chase & Co. mentioned in courtroom filings.
Cecile de Jongh, spouse of then-USVI Governor John de Jongh Jr., despatched Epstein an August 2011 e mail with the topic line “Please Approve,” attaching a $25,000 tuition invoice for Skidmore, a personal liberal arts faculty in Saratoga Springs, New York. The e-mail is amongst dozens of beforehand sealed paperwork the financial institution filed late Wednesday in Manhattan federal courtroom.
JPMorgan is preventing a lawsuit by the USVI, accusing it of facilitating Epstein’s intercourse trafficking. The financial institution is defending itself partially by alleging the USVI authorities did way more itself to help the crimes of Epstein, who had a personal island retreat, Little Saint James, there.
JPMorgan accused Cecile de Jongh, who labored as an workplace supervisor for Epstein, in a Could submitting of appearing as his “main conduit for spreading cash and affect all through the USVI.” However the emails launched on Wednesday present further particulars underscoring the closeness of their relationship.
The newest submitting additionally signifies that JPMorgan is continuous to vigorously battle the USVI go well with even after asserting Monday that it had agreed to settle an analogous lawsuit by victims of Epstein’s abuse for $290 million.
The USVI is asking the decide to cease JPMorgan from asserting an “unclean palms” protection, arguing that doctrine doesn’t apply to authorities actors. Neither de Jongh nor a lawyer for the USVI responded to requests for remark Thursday.
A spokeswoman for the USVI lawyer normal’s workplace mentioned final month that JPMorgan, “which had a obligation to report the proof in its possession of Epstein’s human trafficking,” was attempting to shift blame to the territory.
In accordance with JPMorgan, the schooling Epstein paid for de Jongh’s youngsters pushed her compensation as workplace supervisor to $200,000 in 2009. A yr’s tuition at Skidmore at present prices about $65,000, not together with room and board, in response to the varsity’s web site.
The financial institution claims that in return she offered him entry to the USVI’s political elite, who gave him beneficial tax advantages and even allowed him to take part in debate about legal guidelines that may have an effect on him.
‘Offenders and Predators’
In a Could 2011 e mail alternate included within the JPMorgan courtroom submitting, Epstein and de Jongh mentioned the USVI’s plans to replace its intercourse offender registration legislation to debate the invoice’s possibe influence on him. Epstein was registered within the US as a intercourse offender following his 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Epstein prompt that the USVI may revise the legislation to extra narrowly apply to “predators,” a class from which he apparently excluded himself.
“Possibly we must always distinguish between offenders and predators,” Epstein wrote within the e mail to de Jongh. He additionally mentioned {that a} provision for waivers from the legislation’s necessities “must be broader” to keep away from affecting his privateness and his enterprise.
It’s not clear how broadly the e-mail was shared, although de Jongh’s reply requested if Epstein needed to attend for different individuals to reply. She later wrote that the matter “must be settled” in a couple of days as a result of the lawyer normal wanted to submit one thing by the top of the month.
“Don’t wish to e mail backwards and forwards,” she added.
In accordance with JPMorgan, Epstein wasn’t pleased with the legislation that handed in June 2012, and de Jongh promised she would discover methods for him to get across the restrictions. In accordance with the emails launched Wednesday night time, the 2 expressed frustration {that a} USVI politician recognized solely as “Russell” had betrayed them.
“I do know this was a horrible week and I’m actually sorry about how issues panned out,” de Jongh wrote. “Not with the ability to take somebody at their phrase is extremely irritating.” In a possible reference to her husband, she mentioned Russell had “screwed John” on one other invoice however mentioned they may work with different politicians and officers to provide “the discretion for establishment for you.”
‘Did the Women Enroll?’
A few of the different emails element de Jongh’s efforts to assist Epstein get hold of scholar visas for younger girls by arranging their enrollment on the College of the Virgin Islands.
“Did the women enroll?” de Jongh adopted up with Epstein in a June 2013 e mail. “It isn’t too late for the autumn semester? As we mentioned, they should go down and enroll and present the power to pay.”
Epstein was a consumer at JPMorgan between 1998 and 2013, when the financial institution minimize ties with the financier. JPMorgan has highlighted that Epstein’s ties with the USVI authorities continued far longer. One 2017 e mail reveals Epstein speaking immediately with the USVI’s environmental commissioner concerning the aftermath of a hurricane and the territory’s seemingly want for cash.
In an October 2019 e mail, a couple of months after Epstein was arrested for intercourse trafficking and was subsequently discovered lifeless in his Manhattan jail cell, a bunch of USVI officers communicated about an inquiry from the New York Occasions about tax incentives Epstein was given by the territory.
“I personally assume the questions are opening us as much as public scrutiny,” USVI official Margarita Benjamin wrote.
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