© ceciledejongh/FacebookThen-first lady Cecile de Jongh worked for Epstein even while her husband, John, was governor of the US Virgin Islands, the papers noted.
The startling allegations about Cecile de Jongh were made by JPMorgan Chase in response to a lawsuit brought by the islands' attorney general over the banking giant's own years-long financial support of the now-dead pervert.
In a filing Wednesday, the bank again made the accusation that the islands' "government officials actively facilitated Epstein's crimes" — with the first lady "his 'primary conduit' for spreading money and influence."
De Jongh ran Epstein's business operations for several years — including when her husband, John de Jongh, was the territory's governor, noted the filing, which included dozens of emails.
In 2007 — the year her husband took office — de Jongh was paid $200,000 in salary and bonuses by Epstein, who also paid for the power couple's kids' education, the documents show.
"First Lady de Jongh explicitly advised Epstein on how to buy control of the [islands'] political class" and how to pay "politicians to ensure their 'loyalty and access,'" the filing alleges.
The first lady "proved to be a ready partner" in helping Epstein "freely transport and exploit young women" with "impunity" to his private islands, the filing alleges.
Despite her boss being a high-profile registered sex offender, email exchanges showed that the first lady helped arrange visas for young women, as well as English classes to justify their visits.
"They are structuring the class around the ladies," the first lady wrote in one email in 2013.
"Ultimately [the University of the Virgin Islands] structured a bespoke class to enroll victims and provide cover for their presence in the territory — the same year Epstein donated $20,000 to the university through one of his companies," the bank alleged.
She found fake jobs for other women to get visas, the filing states.
De Jongh also tried to help Epstein change laws that threatened to hinder his own travel when the island updated sex offender monitoring laws in 2011.
"This is the suggested language; will it work for you?" the first lady asked.
Concerned, Epstein replied: "Maybe we should distinguish between sex offenders and predators ... or a waiver should be broader."
When their efforts failed, the first lady emailed to say how sorry she was for the "terrible week" the convicted child abuser had over the wording that threatened to restrict his travel.
"However, all is not lost and we will figure something out by coming up with a game plan to get around these obstacles," she wrote.
"First Lady de Jongh was correct," the bank's filing said, saying she "crafted a plan to facilitate Epstein's easy travel to and from" the islands.
The governor's wife sent her "warm regards" to Epstein in most of the emails — including one arguing for a bonus for her and her team.
"I believe we have an exceptionally loyal and dedicated team," she wrote a week before Christmas 2014.
"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.
Attempts to reach de Jongh for comment were not successful Friday. An attorney representing her did not respond to detailed questions, the Washington Post said.
A spokesperson for the Virgin Islands attorney general told the paper that the bank was just trying to distract from its own wrongdoing at the heart of its lawsuit.
"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," said the rep, Venetia Velazquez.
Epstein was a JPMorgan client from 1998 until the bank terminated its ties with him in 2013. He died of an apparent suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019, one month after being arrested on sex-trafficking charges.
The bank on Monday agreed to pay $290 million to settle a class-action lawsuit by dozens of the pedophile's accusers.
"Any association with him was a mistake and we regret it. We would never have continued to do business with him if we believed he was using our bank in any way to help commit heinous crimes," JPMorgan said.
Reader Comments
Wow, that's quite a distraction.
"Any association with him was a mistake and we regret it. We would never have continued to do business with him if we believed he was using our bank in any way to help commit heinous crimes," JPMorgan said."
Almost like a game of ping pong.