The wife of a Democrat politician in the U.S. Virgin Islands is accused of helping Jeffrey Epstein facilitate his alleged sex trafficking scheme.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the revelation was made in a court filing from JPMorgan Chase. The bank agreed to pay approximately $290 million to settle a class action lawsuit from Epstein’s victims over the bank’s relationship with the now-deceased sex trafficker.
The bank released emails between Epstein and former First Lady Cecile de Jongh, wife of then-USVI Democrat Governor John de Jongh Jr., who was “an office manager for the convicted sex offender’s businesses in the U.S. territory.”
The U.S. Virgin Islands sued the bank last year claiming that it helped Epstein facilitate his crimes by allowing him to use their bank, which provided him access to the financial system.
The bank said in court documents that the U.S. Virgin Islands “protected Epstein, fostering the perfect conditions for Epstein’s criminal conduct to continue undetected. Rather than stop him, they helped him.”
The bank said that de Jongh ran Epstein’s business operations on the island while her husband was the governor and helped him deal with local politicians and law enforcement.
De Jongh allegedly helped enroll numerous Epstein victims in English classes, the bank said. Epstein paid for the courses. She also allegedly helped get their visas set up so they could be brought to the island.
She allegedly asked Epstein to make political donations to the congressional campaign of Democrat Stacey Plaskett, who was later elected to U.S. Congress as a delegate.
A spokesperson for the island’s attorney general claimed that the bank “cherry-picked” facts to distract from its own legal woes.
“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,” the spokesperson said.
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