One of the world’s largest banks has accused the wife of the former governor of the US Virgin Islands (USVI) of aiding in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex crimes. Cecile de Jongh, who may go by her maiden name Cecile Galiber, is the former first lady of the Virgin Islands and took on that role from 2007 until 2015 while her husband was the governor.
JPMorgan also alleges that Epstein paid for the tuition of the former first lady's children as she advised Epstein “on how to buy control of the USVI political class.”
"For two decades, Epstein maintained a quid pro quo relationship with USVI’s highest ranking officials,” the JPMorgan said in the court document. “He gave them money, advice, influence, and favors. In exchange, they shielded and even rewarded him.”
The USVI brought a civil lawsuit against the bank last year, alleging JPMorgan was “indispensable to the operation and concealment of the Epstein trafficking enterprise.” Their allegation against Cecile is part of a defense in response to the lawsuit, which is seeking monetary damages from the bank.
The bank also alleges that Cecile helped Epstein get student visas for his victims, and helped enroll them in “bespoke class” at the University of the Virgin Islands which was created to “provide cover for their presence in the territory.” The same year they were “enrolled,” Epstein donated $20,000 to the university through one of his companies.
The filing adds that Cecile advised Epstein to have someone else sign the victims’ school payment letters, because she was possibly “cognizant of the risk in having a registered sex offender sign the letter.”
Epstein also met with leadership at the USVI Port Authority, which ran an airport on St. Thomas where Epstein allegedly trafficked his victims. Cecile, according to the report, asked Epstein to support a local legislator’s bid to return to a position with the Port Authority because it would be a good person for him to have there.
The filing shows Epstein donated heavily to USVI politicians and the government, including $30,000 to the campaign of Stacey Plaskett - a delegate to US House of Representatives since 2015, and a $25,000 gift to current Governor Albert Bryan’s inaugural committee and donations to a school library.
“Based on his government connections, when traveling through the USVI’s airport accompanied by young women as a registered sex offender, Epstein could count on his ‘great relationship’ with the officials there to avoid scrutiny or detection,” the court document said.
The filing also found that in 2010, Epstein emailed Cecile and complained to her about a “difficult” customs officer at the airport. Then, two years later he asked about sending all 78 airport officers turkeys for Thanksgiving.
In 2011, Cecile also contacted Epstein to make sure the wording of a legislative bill which proposed to increase the monitoring sex offenders would “work for him.” Then, when the bill passed, she apologized to him for “how things panned out.”
Reports have indicated that Cecile has not commented on the filing.