“For two decades, and for so long after [JPMorgan] exited Epstein as a client, the entity that most directly failed to protect public safety and most actively facilitated and benefited from Epstein’s continued criminal activity was the plaintiff in this case — the [U.S. Virgin Islands] government itself,” JPMorgan’s filing argues. “Rather than stop him, they helped him.”
Epstein brought victims to his private island in the U.S. territory.
JPMorgan’s filing also cites emails between Epstein and the Virgin Islands’ former first lady, Cecile de Jongh, who was an employee of the financier for several years.
De Jongh worked for Epstein running business operations, and was alternatively identified as a “compliance person” or “office manager,” according to court papers. She worked for him since at least 2000, according to court papers, including during the tenure of her husband, John de Jongh, as governor of the territory.
Emails exchanged by Cecile de Jongh and Epstein appear to show them working together on a range of issues.
In a 2010 message, Epstein complains about a particular customs official who “has been difficult lately,” and de Jongh responds that she has asked someone to look into it.
In another email, de Jongh makes a case for why she should get a bonus: “In 14 years, we have not had a bad audit and we ensure that you have the best relationships with local regulators and departments,” de Jongh wrote.
Because Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to Florida charges of soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution, the Virgin Islands required him to register as a sex offender, JPMorgan’s filing says. In a March 2011 email cited in the filing, he suggested certain changes to the territory’s sex offender laws. “Maybe we should distinguish between sex offenders and predators,” he wrote to de Jongh. He later added: “It can’t be more restrictive than when I travel in [the] United States. Or a waiver should be broader.”
Cecile de Jongh did not respond to phone calls and emails seeking comment. An attorney representing de Jong did not respond to detailed questions regarding de Jongh’s past contacts with Epstein.
A Virgin Islands spokesperson on Thursday accused the bank of trying to distract from its own role in facilitating Epstein’s crimes.
“JPMorgan Chase has cherry-picked and mischaracterized Epstein’s interactions with U.S. Virgin Islands officials and residents in an attempt to distract and shift blame away from its role in facilitating Jeffrey Epstein’s heinous crimes,” Venetia Velazquez, a spokesperson for the Virgin Islands attorney general, said in an emailed statement.
She further accused the bank of trying to “attack the people of the Virgin Islands” for not discovering the same information that bank executives refused to share. “JPMorgan Chase had a legal responsibility to report the evidence in its possession of Epstein’s human trafficking, it failed to do so, and it should be held accountable for violating the law,” Velazquez wrote.
The lawsuit brought by the Virgin Islands is separate from the one brought by Epstein’s victims that resulted in a $290 million settlement agreement with JPMorgan. Deutsche Bank, which inherited Epstein’s accounts after he was dropped by JPMorgan and worked with him for four years, settled with victims for $75 million.
