Epstein Data Wiki

J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc. (Enhanced Education)

Properties2
tagsentity, virgin-islands, epstein-company, foundation, philanthropy
aliasesEnhanced Education, J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, The J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc., Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation, J. Epstein VI Foundation

36 min read

TypeVirgin Islands not-for-profit corporation; recognised by the IRS under section 501(c)(3) and classified a private foundation under section 509(a)12
IncorporatedArticles signed June 14, 2000; the certificate of incorporation records them as filed in the Lieutenant Governor’s office on June 15, and certificate C-574-2000 was issued July 14, 200034
Trade name”Enhanced Education,” registered March 6, 2002; business stated as “Educational Philanthropy”5
Public name”Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation,” the name Epstein gave for the same EIN in 20136
EINAssigned by the IRS on July 13, 20007
Address6100 Red Hook Quarter, Suite B-3, St. Thomas8
Initial donorFinancial Trust Company, Inc., described in the Form 1023 as “the initial donor and a substantial contibutor”9
Officers, fiscal year 2010Darren K. Indyke president; Cecile de Jongh vice-president; Jeanne Brennan treasurer and secretary8
Officers appointed Mar. 1, 2012Jeffrey Epstein president; Indyke vice-president; Erika Kellerhals treasurer and secretary10
Assets$8,043,909 at December 31, 201011
Recorded giving$677,382 charitable contributions in 2010; $356,000 in grants paid in 20171213
After Epstein’s deathCreditor claims of $160,000 and $179,308 presented, allowed and paid by his estate in November 201914

The J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc., which from 2002 operated under the registered trade name Enhanced Education, was a United States Virgin Islands charity through which Jeffrey Epstein made and presented scientific and educational giving. It was incorporated in St. Thomas in June 2000, recognised by the Internal Revenue Service as a section 501(c)(3) organisation and classified a private foundation, and funded, on its own application for exemption, principally by contributions from an initial donor it identified as Financial Trust Company, Inc., the Virgin Islands company of which Epstein was a principal and president.129 Its board was Darren K. Indyke, Cecile de Jongh and Jeanne Brennan until all three resigned their offices on February 29, 2012, after which Epstein took the presidency himself.15161710 Recipients named in its own returns, cheques and correspondence include Martin Nowak’s Program for Evolutionary Dynamics at Harvard, the ASU Foundation, the Stockholm School of Economics, the Hasty Pudding Institute of 1770 and a New York charity called Education Advance.181319 The Government of the United States Virgin Islands, in its action against JPMorgan Chase, alleged that Epstein or his representatives had misused the bank accounts of his “purported charitable organizations,” Enhanced Education among them, and listed the Foundation’s JPMorgan account among three sets of account statements from which it compiled a chart of “indirect payments … for the benefit of girls or women”; JPMorgan did not admit the allegations, denied all liability, and the case was recorded as settled.20212223

Two emails quoted below are from productions whose printed pages carry transmission damage, so that words break mid-string; where the image shows a character lost in the print it is supplied in square brackets. Square brackets elsewhere mark only a change of case at the start of a quotation.

The Articles of Incorporation were adopted under the Nonprofit Corporations Law of the Virgin Islands and state the corporation’s purposes as “charitable, educational and scientific purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3).”1 Article II gives the principal office as 41–42 Kongens Gade, St. Thomas, and names Paul Hoffman as resident agent at that address; Article IV provides that “[t]he member of the Corporation shall be Jeffrey E. Epstein or such person or entity as he shall designate in writing.”1 Three incorporators signed on June 14, 2000: Barbara Mignon Weatherly, Hoffman and Epstein, whose signature was acknowledged before a New York notary two days earlier.3 The certificate of incorporation and a later certificate of good standing both record the Articles as filed in the Lieutenant Governor’s office on June 15, 2000; the copy of the Articles kept in the Foundation’s own file carries a Lieutenant Governor’s office received stamp of July 13, 2000.4241 The Internal Revenue Service assigned the Foundation’s employer identification number on July 13, 2000, and Lieutenant Governor Gerard Luz James II issued certificate of incorporation C-574-2000 on July 14.74

Hoffman’s firm transmitted the Form 1023 application for recognition of exemption to Indyke at J. Epstein & Company, 457 Madison Avenue, under cover of a letter of September 14, 2000, enclosing copies date-stamped as received by the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue on September 13.25 The application described the Foundation’s activity as supporting other 501(c)(3) organisations and holding funds meanwhile in interest-bearing accounts or securities, said it would “be funded principally by contributions from the initial donor,” and reported that no fundraising was planned.26 Its balance sheet, dated September 8, 2000, showed $187,500, all of it cash.27

The IRS determination letter (Letter 1076) records that the Foundation is exempt under section 501(a) as an organisation described in section 501(c)(3) and that “as indicated in your application, you are a private foundation within the meaning of section 509(a)”; it adds, “In this letter we are not determining whether you are an operating foundation as defined in section 4942(j)(3).” The accounting period ends December 31. The letter’s date stamp reads “NOV 01,” with the year not legible in the produced image; the application it answers had been received by the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue in September 2000.225

A Certificate of Registration of Trade Names, acknowledged on March 6, 2002 and received by the Lieutenant Governor’s corporations division the same day, certifies that the corporation “is doing or intends to do business in the Virgin Islands of the United States; that this business is known or is to be known by the designation, name or style of … ENHANCED EDUCATION,” that the business is located at 6100 Red Hook Quarter, Suite B-3, and that “the kind of business to be transacted under said name is … Educational Philanthropy.” It was signed by Hoffman as vice-president and Jeffrey Schantz as secretary.5 The copy in FirstBank’s production carries a fax header of 10:33 on January 7, 2003 from Hoffman’s firm, and a FirstBank internal message circulated at 11:46 that morning asked branch operations “to amend the account title” of the Foundation’s account, recording that the customer had submitted a trade-name certificate under the title “J Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc. t/a Enhanced Education” and that “[a]ll checks will be made payable to the trade name ‘Enhanced Education’ only.”528 A USVI certificate of good standing issued April 5, 2005 records the corporation as in good standing.24

The Virgin Islands annual report for fiscal year 2010, dated June 30, 2011, gives the main office and principal Virgin Islands office as 6100 Red Hook Quarter Suite B-3 and the resident agent as the attorney Maria Hodge.8

Two instruments prepared in June 2013 would have moved the corporation’s registered position again. A unanimous written consent of directors and a certificate of change of principal office and resident agent, each reciting that the corporation “was duly formed in the United States Virgin Islands on June 15, 2000” and that its principal office was 41–42 Kongens Gade with Hoffman as agent for service of process, resolve to change the principal office to 9100 Port of Sale Mall, Suite 15, St. Thomas and to appoint Business Basics VI, LLC as the new agent.2930 Both are dated only “this ___ day of June, 2013,” both signature blocks are blank (the consent over the names of Epstein, Indyke and Kellerhals, the certificate over those of Epstein as president and Kellerhals as secretary), and the certificate’s notarial block is unexecuted.2930 Whether either was ever signed or filed is not shown by the documents cited here.

Officers and trustees

The Articles named three initial trustees, each serving without compensation, and the Form 1023 restated the slate:

NameTrusteeOfficesAddress in the Form 1023
Jeffrey E. EpsteinyesPresident, Treasurerc/o American Yacht Harbor, 6100 Red Hook Quarters #2, St. Thomas
Paul HoffmanyesVice President, Asst. Treasurer, Asst. Secretary41–42 Kongens Gade, St. Thomas
Jeffrey SchantzyesVice President, Secretary457 Madison Avenue, 4th Floor, New York

319

Question 4d of the application answered that Epstein and Schantz “are disqualified persons,” Epstein being “a principal, a director and the President, and Mr. Schantz is a director, of Financial Trust Company, Inc., a U.S.V.I. corporation which is the initial donor and a substantial contibutor to the Foundation,” and that Schantz “is an employee of a business entity controlled by Mr. Epstein.”9 Question 5 disclosed that Epstein was “director and President of The C.O.U.Q. Foundation, Inc. and a Trustee of the J. Epstein Foundation both of which are already qualified under Section 501(c)(3),” and stated: “It is not intended that there will be any dealings between either of these organizations and the Foundation.”9 The Foundation’s own later accounts record grants to the C.O.U.Q. Foundation of $200,000 in 2009 and $100,000 in 2010.12

By the fiscal year 2010 annual report the board and officers were Indyke as president and trustee, de Jongh as vice-president and trustee, and Brennan as treasurer and secretary.8 The same three signed, on March 8, 2010, a unanimous consent of the directors of Financial Trust Company authorising Indyke as its president to open and operate accounts at J.P. Morgan.32 An undated internal tax entity chart lists “J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation Inc. aka Enhanced Education” as a USVI not-for-profit corporation filing Form 990-PF, owned by “JE,” with “DKI-pres Cecile-VP Jeanne-Sec & Treasurer,” the slate in place before March 2012, and cash of $6,940,000.33

The February–March 2012 transition

Three one-paragraph letters to the board, each dated February 29, 2012, are in the Foundation’s organisational file. De Jongh resigned “as a Trustee and the Vice President,” effective February 29; Brennan resigned “as a Trustee, the Treasurer and the Secretary,” effective February 29; Indyke resigned “as the President,” effective March 1. All three are signed.151617 Indyke did not resign as trustee.

On March 1, 2012 Indyke signed a “Consent of Sole Trustee in Lieu of Meeting,” reciting that de Jongh and Brennan had each tendered her resignation as a trustee and resolving that “effective as of March 1, 2012, Jeffrey E. Epstein and Erika Kellerhals be, and each of them hereby is, appointed as a Trustee of the Corporation.”34 A unanimous consent of the same date appointed Epstein president, Indyke vice-president and Kellerhals both treasurer and secretary, and removed from office all persons then serving as officers who were not named in it.10 The file holds two signature pages for that consent: one carries the signatures of Epstein and Indyke with Kellerhals’s line blank, the other Kellerhals’s signature with the other two lines blank.10 Both Kellerhals and Epstein signed letters dated March 1 accepting appointment as trustees.35 A covering memo directs that four items be added to the “Organizational Redweld” and describes Indyke’s resignation as effective February 29, where the letter itself says March 1.36 The organisational file index lists the same four items.37

The documents cited here do not give a reason for the resignations. A letter of June 2015 over Indyke’s name, written in the first person and unsigned in the produced copy, describes him as having “worked in various capacities for the Foundation since its inception.”38

Funding and finances

The financial statement filed with the fiscal year 2010 annual report reports total assets of $8,043,909 at December 31, 2010 ($7,797,885 in cash and $246,024 in investments), against $8,515,265 at the end of 2009, with investment income of $213,872 and total expenditures of $685,228 for the year.11 The underlying QuickBooks balance sheet breaks the cash down as a Bear Stearns money market account of $7,704,090 and a FirstBank operating account of $93,794, shows a Goldman Sachs balance of zero, and carries opening balance equity of $187,500, the figure the Form 1023 had reported at inception.39

The profit and loss statement for 2010, with 2009 comparatives, records the following under charitable contributions:12

Account20102009
Contributions — Non VI$501,500$118,000
Contributions — private education—$6,000
Contributions — charity—$6,825
Consulting fee$5,000$50,000
C.O.U.Q. Foundation$100,000$200,000
Symposium (travel and hotel)$70,882—
Total charitable contributions$677,382$380,825

General and administrative expense for 2010 was $7,846, of which $7,500 was accounting and $150 legal.12

Giving

Harvard and the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics

A letter of June 9, 2015 on Enhanced Education notepaper, addressed to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in support of an O-1 nonimmigrant petition by the Foundation, states that “[i]n 2003, the Foundation established the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics at Harvard University with a $35 million gift to the University,” and names as scientists the Foundation had supported Martin Nowak, Gregory Benford, Lee Smolin, Seth Lloyd, Lawrence Krauss and Marvin Minsky, with symposia involving Stephen Hawking and the Nobel laureates Gerard ‘t Hooft, David Gross and Frank Wilczek, and the Santa Fe Institute and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai as institutional grantees.3818 The letter is subscribed in type “Darren Indyke, Vice President”; the space above that name is blank in the produced copy.40

That figure is the Foundation’s own promotional description of itself, given to a federal immigration agency. Two years earlier, writing to the Foundation Center on May 21, 2013 to have the Foundation listed, Epstein had put the same gift, again in his own words, at “a $30 million grant.”41 Harvard’s 2020 review of its ties to Epstein, reported by The Harvard Crimson, is the recipient’s own audit of what its records show it received: a gift of $6.5 million in 2003 that established the programme, and total giving from Epstein of $9,179,000 across 22 gifts between 1998 and 2008.42 The largest single-gift figure the Foundation ever claimed, $35 million, is roughly four times Harvard’s own stated total from Epstein across those twenty-two gifts in eleven years. See Epstein and Harvard University.

Arizona State and the Origins Project

The 2017 grant statement records $25,000 paid to the ASU Foundation.13 The Arizona Mirror wrote in August 2019 that Arizona State University had claimed the previous month to have received $250,000 from Epstein, that The Arizona Republic had reported that sum as coming to the Origins Project, directed by Lawrence Krauss, from Enhanced Education, and that ASU had told BuzzFeed News it returned $25,000 to Enhanced Education after the Origins Project was shut down in 2018.43 In an iMessage exchange with Steve Bannon in April 2019, Epstein listed “Asu, Lawrence krauss” among his science giving; asked “Arizona State?” he answered “Yes” and “300k.”44 Of these figures, only the $25,000 in the 2017 statement is a record made by the Foundation.

Consulting engagements

A consulting agreement between Enhanced Education and Marvin Minsky, “effective as of the 1st day of August 2011,” is in the file. It engages Minsky as a liaison “between the Foundation and each of the scientific community, the academic community and the philanthropic community,” requires him to identify fundable research projects, to “[o]rganize and conduct at least one scientific conference a year,” and to report at least every six months, and provides a fee of $50,000 “to be paid in monthly installments of $4,166.67.”45 The copy in the file is unsigned: both the consultant’s line and the line for the Foundation over Indyke’s name are blank.46 On July 13, 2011, less than three weeks before that effective date, Richard Kahn put to Epstein a list of items that included “Marvin Minsky - update on Enhanced consulting fees - when should this [b]egin? did you finalize monthly or annual amount?”47 Letters on Enhanced Education notepaper over Indyke’s name, dated “February , 2012” with the day left blank and unsigned, confirm “the notice terminating that certain Consulting Agreement dated as of the 1st day of August 2011” with Minsky and with a second consultant, Gloria Rudisch, MD.48 The organisational file index lists “Consulting Agreements w/Marvin Minsky & Gloria Rudish” among the Foundation’s papers.49

The same index lists a “Consulting Agreement Enhanced Education & Ben Goertzel.”37 On July 11, 2016 the artificial-intelligence researcher Ben Goertzel asked Epstein about a conference: “About the sponsorship — should I list one of your organizations on the conference materials as a sponsor? If so which one? Enhanced Education again?” Epstein replied, “no jeffrey epstein . is enough.”50

The May 2010 science-symposium coordination fee

Epstein wrote to Al Seckel at 14:46:57 UTC on May 19, 2010, copying Richard Kahn. The produced copy carries an RFC Date header with the +0000 offset, so the zone is stated on the document itself. The message reads: “al, please send enhanced education , an invoice for 25 k, that represents your coordination fee, for the science syposium .. email to rich.”51 At 15:01:59 UTC the same morning Seckel replied to Epstein, again copying Kahn, attaching two Microsoft Word files: “Dear Rich, As per Jeff’s request, please find attached invoice and wiring instructions. They are Microsoft word docs, and so, if the address, etc. needs any modification, please correct.”52

The invoice is billed to “Enhanced Education / Palm Beach Florida” and carries one line item, “Coordination fee for setting up science conference, / Arranging speakers, demonstrations, exhibits, venue,” against a total of 25,000; the table beneath the address gives the date as “19 May2010,” the person ordering as “Rich,” the sales representative as “Seckel” and the terms as “Immediate.”53 The extraction reorders this sheet’s columns, so two readings were fixed at the image. The Invoice Date field reads “19 July 2010,” two months after the table date and after the email that produced it. And the totals block reads Subtotal $25000, Tax N/A, Shipping $20000, Installation N/A, Balance Due $25000: a shipping figure is stated and is not carried into the balance due, which equals the subtotal alone.53 The second sheet of the same two-page instrument, which appears twice in the release under separate identifiers, is a wire-transfer instruction giving the account holder as IllusionWorks, L.L.C. at Bank of America; account-class fields on that sheet are not reproduced here.54

The billing address is not the one the Foundation used, which its trade-name certificate and its annual report give as 6100 Red Hook Quarter, Suite B-3, St. Thomas.58 A search of the released files for “Enhanced Education” together with “Palm Beach” returned 36 pages, and these invoice sheets are the only ones on which Enhanced Education itself carries a Palm Beach address; on the others the name attaches to Palm Beach charities Epstein gave to, or to wire lines in which the West Palm Beach address is the C.O.U.Q. Foundation’s as beneficiary while Enhanced Education is shown as the St. Thomas originator.55 What joins the invoice to the Foundation is therefore not an address but an instruction: Epstein named the payee himself and directed the invoice to Kahn, whom he copied on the instruction, and Seckel, who supplied the address, invited its correction in the covering email.5152 The documents cited here do not establish that the “Enhanced Education” billed at Palm Beach is the same legal entity as the J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc.

The wire data JPMorgan produced in the Virgin Islands’ suit against it carries a row for the following day. It is dated May 20, 2010, in the amount of $25,000, with the ordering customer given as “ENHANCED EDUCATION, 6100 RED HOOK QUARTER, SUITE 3B,” the ordering bank as “JPMCLEARING CORP,” and the credit party as “ILLUSION WORKS LL C” at “BANK OF AMERICA N.A.,” against the credit reference “SWF OF 10/05/20.”56 The invoice records what was billed; that row records a payment ordered, and the documents cited here do not state that the one answered the other.

Grants recorded in the 2017 return

A page of the tax preparer’s federal statements for the 2017 Form 990-PF, prepared August 1, 2018, lists the recipients paid during the year under Part XV, line 3A. Every entry is described as an unrestricted contribution to a 501(c)(3):13

RecipientAmount
Humanity + (Los Angeles)$115,000
UAB Fors Projecktai (Vilnius)$75,000
Education Advance (575 Lexington Avenue, New York)$55,000
The Hasty Pudding Institute of 1770 (Cambridge)$50,000
ASU Foundation (Tempe)$25,000
Barbro School (Stockholm)$25,000
Pacific College Oriental Medicine (San Diego)$8,000
VIBT Inc. (St. Thomas)$3,000
Total$356,000

Education Advance’s own 2017 Schedule B lists a single contributor, the Foundation, at 6100 Red Hook Quarter B3, St Thomas, in the sum of $55,000.57 The Daily Beast reported on March 12, 2019 that the charity’s “total revenues were $56,500 for the tax year beginning Jan. 1, 2017 and ending Dec. 31, 2017,” of which Epstein had provided $55,000; that Education Advance “deleted its website on Monday after The Daily Beast contacted a director of the nonprofit”; and that the director told the paper it would return the $55,000.58

Other recorded disbursements

Two 2011 messages from Epstein’s New York office record cheques drawn on the Foundation: on February 8, 2011, “Check written to ‘The Criminal Justice Executive Institute’ for $10,000 from Enhanced Education,” and on March 22, 2011, “a check for $25,000 for ‘Tribeca Film Institute’ from Enhanced Education.”5960 Both messages record the cheque as written; neither shows delivery or clearance.

On March 28, 2014 an assistant in Epstein’s New York office asked him to confirm that a reimbursement of $14,158.88 to the International Peace Institute, for a flight for Lawrence Summers, was “approved to [r]eimburse from Enhanced Education.”61 The documents cited here record the request for approval and not a payment.

The Foundation’s cheque no. 2599, dated December 11, 2014, drawn on its FirstBank account at 6100 Red Hook Qtrs Suite B3, is for $30,000 payable to “Stockholm School Of Economics,” memo “Barbro’s Fund,” and is signed by Indyke; it is posted in the Foundation’s ledger to charitable contributions. The instruction behind it came the same day from Kahn, after Epstein wrote “30k from foundation”: “please process 30,000 from Enhanced to Stockholm School of Economics (same as in the past),” with the memo section to read “Barbro’s fund.”19 See Barbro Ehnbom.

Two letters on Enhanced Education notepaper, dated June 30 and July 3, 2017 and addressed by hand to the St. Thomas Historical Trust, each enclose “a check in the amount of $160,000”; the first is headed “Construction of Fort Christian Raveling Wall” and says the money is “for the construction of a raveling wall at Fort Christian.”6263 The two letters record two transmittals of a single $160,000 cheque rather than two separate payments of that amount: the consent agreement below describes one grant of $160,000 for the Fort Christian project, not two. Both are typed over “Jeffrey E. Epstein, President” and the space above that name is blank on each; neither letter names the account the cheque was drawn on, and no cheque is among the documents cited here.6263 A supplemental consent agreement in a Virgin Islands coastal-zone enforcement proceeding against Great St. Jim, LLC, NOVA-04-16-STT, recites that the grant “to the St. Thomas Historical Trust … which Gratitude America, Ltd., an affiliate of Respondent, is making in the amount of One Hundred Sixty Thousand Dollars ($160,000)” was for the fees, costs and expenses of the Fort Christian project.64 The copy in the release carries Epstein’s signature for the respondent; the lines for the Division of Coastal Zone Management and for the Commissioner, and the “SO ORDERED” date, are blank.65 Which foundation’s account the money left is not established by these documents: the recital names Gratitude America, Ltd and the transmittal letters are on Enhanced Education’s notepaper.

The organisational file index lists, among Enhanced Education’s papers, an “Acceptance of Conditions of Gift-Antilles School,” a grant agreement of October 1, 2008 between the Foundation and the C.O.U.Q. Foundation, an “Expenditure Responsibility — Grant to COUQ,” “Reports From COUQ Foundation,” further grant agreements dated March 16, 2009, June 1, 2009, October 1, 2009 and March 15, 2010 whose counterparties the index does not name, and “Scientist Symposium Island, Nov. 12, 2010 and Jan. 8, 2011.”3749

Banking

FirstBank Puerto Rico, answering a grand jury subpoena dated December 31, 2019, listed for the Southern District of New York the Epstein-related accounts it held.66 The first entry is a commercial checking account of “J EPSTEIN VIRGIN ISLANDS FOUNDATION INC T/A ENHANCED EDUCATION,” opened September 7, 2000, with authorised signatures “JEFFREY EPSTEIN / JEFFREY A SCHANTZ” and a status of “CREDITS ONLY ALLOWED.”67 The same list carries Gratitude America, Ltd as a separate account holder, opened February 26, 2015.68 The bank’s counsel produced the underlying records on April 15, 2020.66

JPMorgan’s counsel produced wire data to the same office on September 2, 2020, “collected from at least 2007 to August 2019.” Appendix A to that letter groups the accounts; “Enhanced Education” appears under the heading “Epstein Accounts,” alongside the Butterfly Trust and apart from the larger “Epstein & ‘JE DM’ Accounts” cluster.69

A Deutsche Bank know-your-customer print for the “Southern Financial Relationship,” case 01977699, records the relationship manager as Stewart Oldfield and notes that “Jeffrey Epstein reached out to Stew Oldfield on 3/7/17 to have a new acct opened under this relationship.” The sheet is marked a 2018 periodic review.70 The legal-entity sheet describes “J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc” as a Foundation/Association whose purpose is Philanthropic/Charitable, incorporated in the U.S. Virgin Islands on 7/14/2000 at 6100 Red Hook Quarter B3, “a private nonprofit foundation which is organized exclusively for charitable, educational and scientific purposes,” and stating that “[t]his is a 501 (c)3 foundation with Jeffrey Epstein serving as the President. Darren Indyke serves as VP and Erika Kellerhals as Secretary/Treasurer. The signors on this account are Jeffrey Epstein, Darren Indyke and Paul Barrett.”71 The same sheet gives the Foundation’s number of employees as five and states that “[t]he initial donation came from Jeffrey Epstein’s personal funds,” which “have then been invested and reinvested as the source of income for the foundation.”71 That is Deutsche Bank’s 2018 account of the Foundation’s origin; the Form 1023, filed eighteen years earlier, had identified Financial Trust Company, Inc. as “the initial donor and a substantial contibutor.”9 The Foundation’s own account within that relationship carries an opening date of September 30, 2013, and Indyke is recorded as the primary contact for the relationship manager; the account’s stated purpose is “to manage the foundation’s securities and trade investments.”7072

The Foundation’s organisational file index also lists Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley/Dean Witter and Bear Stearns among its papers.37

Public presentation and press inquiries

The corporation went by several names at once. On May 21, 2013, writing from a personal Gmail address to have the Foundation listed with the Foundation Center, Epstein set out its identifiers: “The public name is: Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation,” “The Foundation started in 2000,” and “The registered name of the foundation is: J. Epstein VI Foundation.”6 He also gave the Foundation’s employer identification number, which is the one the IRS assigned to the J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc. in July 2000, and the Foundation Center staff member replying wrote that the 2002 Form 990-PF she found “is too old and it is for the ‘J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation’”; the registered name Epstein gave her is not the name on the Articles of Incorporation.671 Kahn had asked whether to send the Foundation Center “a recent copy of Enhanced 990 Form”; Epstein answered, “wait.”73

On January 29, 2015 David Ingram, a correspondent for Reuters News, faxed Indyke a list of written questions after Indyke asked for them in writing. They included how many organisations Epstein had given to and how much had been disbursed in the past three years; “Some of the press releases on Jeffrey’s website are attributed to news organizations, including Reuters, the Boston Globe, and the Wall Street Journal. Why are they attributed to news organizations if they are press releases?”; and “Until this week, Jeffrey’s website listed his grant recipients. Why is that information no longer online?” Ingram wrote that he had looked at three private foundations: Epstein Interests, the J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation d/b/a Enhanced Education, and the C.O.U.Q. Foundation, “dissolved in 2012”; asked whether the Virgin Islands foundation was “ever dissolved or folded into the Epstein Interests foundation,” asked “Is there another foundation named the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation? Are there any others?”, and recorded that he had a 2002 return for it and none since, and that New York’s registry held no entry for it or for its EIN.7475 Whether Indyke answered is not shown by the documents cited here.

The June 2015 letter to USCIS supports an O-1 nonimmigrant petition by the Foundation. The beneficiary’s name is redacted in the produced copy.38 The letter describes the Foundation’s mission as supporting “academic, scientific and medical research and other philanthropic activities by educational institutions and other not-for-profit institutions and organizations.”38

Litigation and disposition

On May 31, 2007 the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida served subpoenas on four Epstein entities, among them the J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc. Gerald B. Lefcourt’s office replied to the assistant United States attorney A. Marie Villafaña on June 12, 2007 that no entity held documents responsive to four of the six requests, that a fifth was still being checked, and that it was enclosing a schedule of the Foundation’s corporate directors, board members and shareholders together with its IRS Forms 1096 and 1099 for 2003 and 2004.76

The Government of the United States Virgin Islands’ Second Amended Complaint against JPMorgan Chase, filed April 12, 2023, alleged that “Epstein and/or his representatives appeared to be misusing JP Morgan accounts for Epstein’s purported charitable organizations, including the C.O.U.Q. Foundation and Enhanced Education,” that “Epstein made payments from these accounts with no clear nexus to the organization’s charitable purpose,” and, as an example, that “Epstein and/or his representative” “used the Enhanced Education fund to pay $124,232” to one payee and “$15,000” to two others, whose names are redacted in the filing.20 JPMorgan did not admit the allegations and denied all liability.22

In its statement of material facts in Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., filed July 24, 2023, the Virgin Islands stated that “JPMorgan also handled $158,958.34 in indirect payments from Epstein’s JPMorgan accounts for the benefit of girls or women,” and identified the supporting chart, in a footnote, as a summary of information from three sets of account statements: two of Epstein’s own JPMorgan accounts and “Enhanced Education’s (owned by Epstein) JPMorgan account.”21 The filing does not attribute individual entries in that chart to particular accounts. JPMorgan denied all liability and wrongdoing; the court recorded the Virgin Islands action as settled for $75 million and closed on October 18, 2023.222377

The probate accounting for Epstein’s estate lists, under claims presented, allowed and paid, two payments to “J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc. d/b/a Enhanced Education”: check no. 1003 of November 11, 2019 for $160,000 and check no. 1033 of November 26, 2019 for $179,308.14 The accounting’s schedule of civil claims names as defendants both “Darren K. Indyke, in his capacity as a representative of J. Epstein VI Foundation” and “J. Esptein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc.” in an action filed August 14, 2019 and amended on October 10, 2019; the schedule does not say whether those are two entities or two names for one.78

A search of the released files for “Enhanced Education,” “J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation” and “Virgin Islands Foundation,” each combined with “dissolution,” “dissolved,” “certificate of dissolution” and “winding up,” returned no dissolution instrument for this corporation. The hits it did return are the organisational file index, whose only dissolution papers are those of the C.O.U.Q. Foundation; the Reuters questions of January 2015; and the June 2007 letter to the United States Attorney’s Office, in which the certificate of dissolution referred to is that of J. Epstein & Co., Inc., executed in December 2000.797576

Chronology

DateEventSource
Jun. 14, 2000Articles of Incorporation signed by three incorporators3
Jun. 15, 2000Date on which the certificate of incorporation records the Articles as filed in the Lieutenant Governor’s office424
Jul. 13, 2000IRS assigns the Foundation’s employer identification number by Tele-TIN7
Jul. 14, 2000Certificate of incorporation C-574-2000 issued4
Sep. 7, 2000FirstBank commercial checking account opened; Epstein and Schantz signatories67
Sep. 13, 2000Form 1023 date-stamped by the VI Bureau of Internal Revenue25
Mar. 6, 2002Trade name “Enhanced Education” registered5
Jan. 7, 2003Trade-name certificate faxed from Hoffman’s firm; FirstBank asks for the account title to be amended528
Apr. 5, 2005USVI certificate of good standing issued24
May 31, 2007USAO-SDFL subpoena served on the Foundation; counsel replies June 1276
Oct. 1, 2008Grant agreement with the C.O.U.Q. Foundation (per the file index)49
Mar. 8, 2010Indyke, de Jongh and Brennan sign the Financial Trust Company JPMorgan consent32
May 19, 2010Epstein instructs Seckel to send Enhanced Education an invoice for “25 k” as a science-symposium coordination fee; Seckel emails the invoice and wire sheet the same morning5152
May 20, 2010JPMorgan wire data records $25,000 ordered by Enhanced Education and credited to Illusion Works LLC56
Aug. 1, 2011Effective date of the unsigned Minsky consulting agreement4546
Feb. 2012Prepared, unsigned letters terminating the two August 2011 consulting agreements48
Feb. 29, 2012De Jongh, Brennan and Indyke resign their offices151617
Mar. 1, 2012Indyke, as sole trustee, appoints Epstein and Kellerhals; new officers installed3410
May 21, 2013Epstein gives the Foundation Center the public name “Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation” against the Foundation’s employer identification number6
Jun. 2013Unsigned, undated instruments proposing a change of principal office and resident agent2930
Sep. 30, 2013Deutsche Bank account opening date recorded for the Foundation70
Mar. 28, 2014Approval sought to reimburse the International Peace Institute $14,158.88 from Enhanced Education61
Dec. 11, 2014Cheque no. 2599, $30,000, to the Stockholm School of Economics19
Jan. 29, 2015Reuters faxes written questions about the foundations to Indyke74
Jun. 9, 2015Enhanced Education letter to USCIS supporting an O-1 petition, typed over Indyke’s name and unsigned in the produced copy3840
Jul. 11, 2016Epstein declines to have Enhanced Education named as a conference sponsor50
Mar. 7, 2017Epstein asks Deutsche Bank to open a further account in the relationship70
2017$356,000 in grants paid, per the Form 990-PF statement prepared Aug. 1, 201813
Jun. 30 and Jul. 3, 2017Enhanced Education letters enclosing $160,000 cheques to the St. Thomas Historical Trust, both unsigned6263
Mar. 12, 2019The Daily Beast reports the Education Advance donation58
Nov. 11 and 26, 2019Estate pays creditor claims of $160,000 and $179,30814
Mar. 9, 2020FirstBank answers the grand jury subpoena67
Sep. 2, 2020JPMorgan produces wire data for the Enhanced Education account69
Apr. 12, 2023USVI Second Amended Complaint names Enhanced Education among accounts it says were misused; JPMorgan denies liability2022
Jul. 24, 2023USVI statement of material facts names the account21

Coverage

  • Kate Briquelet and Lachlan Cartwright, The Daily Beast, Mar 12, 2019.
  • Jerod MacDonald-Evoy, Arizona Mirror, Aug 27, 2019, reporting the Arizona Republic and BuzzFeed News.
  • Michelle G. Kurilla, The Harvard Crimson, May 2, 2020, on Harvard’s review.

Footnotes

  1. Articles of Incorporation, J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc., Articles I–III. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00311012 pp.13–14. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  2. Internal Revenue Service determination letter (Letter 1076). https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01377445 p.1. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. Articles of Incorporation, signature and acknowledgment page. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00311012 p.18. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. Certificate of incorporation C-574-2000, signed by Lieutenant Governor Gerard Luz James II, Jul 14, 2000. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01268689 p.62. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  5. Certificate of Registration of Trade Names, acknowledged Mar 6, 2002. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01268689 p.55. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  6. Jeffrey Epstein to the Foundation Center, May 21, 2013, and the reply of the same day. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01973658 p.2. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  7. IRS notice CP 575 K, Jul 13, 2000. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01268689 p.60. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  8. Annual Report on Domestic or Foreign Corporations, fiscal year 2010, dated Jun 30, 2011. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00310685 p.28. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  9. Form 1023, Part II, questions 4 and 5. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00311012 p.5. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  10. Unanimous Consent in Lieu of Meeting of the Board of Trustees, Mar 1, 2012, and its two counterpart signature pages. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00311096 pp.5–7. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  11. Balance sheet and statement of revenues, expenditures and change in net assets as of Dec 31, 2010. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00310685 p.29. ↩ ↩2

  12. Profit and loss, January through December 2010, with 2009 comparatives. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00310685 p.31. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  13. 2017 Federal Statements, Statement 5, Form 990-PF Part XV line 3A, J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc (Enhanced Education), prepared Aug 1, 2018. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00811971 p.1. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  14. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, probate accounting, Schedule F, statement of creditor’s claims. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00082467 p.13. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  15. Cecile de Jongh resignation, Feb 29, 2012. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00311096 p.1. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  16. Jeanne Brennan resignation, Feb 29, 2012. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00311096 p.2. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  17. Darren K. Indyke resignation as president, Feb 29, 2012, effective Mar 1. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00311096 p.3. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  18. Same letter, continuation. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01193034 p.2. ↩ ↩2

  19. Enhanced Education check no. 2599, Dec 11, 2014, the covering instruction of the same date, and Epstein’s message of that morning. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02040177 pp.1, 3-4. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  20. Government of the United States Virgin Islands, Second Amended Complaint, USVI v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., 22-cv-10904 (JSR), Doc. 119, Apr 12, 2023, para. 68. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00145666 p.17. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  21. Statement of Material Facts as to Which the Government of the United States Virgin Islands Contends There Is No Genuine Dispute, USVI v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., 22-cv-10904 (JSR), Doc. 221, Jul 24, 2023, ¶232 and n.17. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02809437 p.77. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  22. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.’s Third-Party Complaint against James Edward Staley, USVI v. JPMorgan, 22-cv-10904 (JSR), Doc. 70, Mar 8, 2023, para. 3. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02806526 p.2. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  23. Memorandum Order, USVI v. JPMorgan, 22-cv-10904 (JSR), Doc. 366, Jun 28, 2024. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02819006 p.1. ↩ ↩2

  24. USVI Certification of Good Standing, Apr 5, 2005. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01268689 p.59. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  25. Paul Hoffman to Darren K. Indyke, Sep 14, 2000. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00311012 p.1. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  26. Form 1023, Part II, questions 1–3. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00311012 p.4. ↩

  27. Form 1023, Part IV-B, balance sheet. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00311012 p.11. ↩

  28. FirstBank internal message requesting an amendment to the account title, Jan 7, 2003. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01268689 p.56. ↩ ↩2

  29. Unanimous Written Consent of Directors in Lieu of Meeting, J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc., “this ___ day of June, 2013”; the signature lines are blank. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00296371 pp.1-2. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  30. Certificate of Change of Principal Office and Resident Agent, J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, Inc., “as of this ___ day of June 2013”; the signature and notarial blocks are blank. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00296148 pp.1-2. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  31. Articles of Incorporation, Article V (trustees and officers). https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00311012 pp.14–16. ↩

  32. Financial Trust Company, Inc., Unanimous Consent of Directors in Lieu of Meeting, Mar 8, 2010. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01584827 p.1. ↩ ↩2

  33. Internal tax entity chart, foundations and trusts page. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01118590 p.3. ↩

  34. Consent of Sole Trustee in Lieu of Meeting, Mar 1, 2012. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00311096 p.4. ↩ ↩2

  35. Acceptances of appointment as trustee, Mar 1, 2012. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00311096 pp.8–9. ↩

  36. Covering memo, “add these files to Organizational Redweld.” https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00311086 p.1. ↩

  37. Organisational file index, Enhanced Education section. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00299850 pp.2–3. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  38. Enhanced Education a/k/a J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation Inc. to USCIS Vermont Service Center, Jun 9, 2015. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01193034 p.1. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  39. Balance sheet as of Dec 31, 2010 (cash basis). https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00310685 p.30. ↩

  40. Same letter, closing page. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01193034 p.6. ↩ ↩2

  41. Same thread, description of the Foundation supplied to the Foundation Center. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01973658 p.3. ↩

  42. Michelle G. Kurilla, “Harvard Asked Its Lawyers to Review the University’s Ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Here’s What They Found.”, The Harvard Crimson, May 2, 2020, reporting the University’s report on Jeffrey Epstein’s connections to Harvard (Office of the General Counsel with Foley Hoag, May 1, 2020). https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/5/2/harvard-concludes-epstein-review/ ↩

  43. Jerod MacDonald-Evoy, “ASU took more money from Epstein than previously reported,” Arizona Mirror, Aug 27, 2019. https://azmirror.com/briefs/asu-took-more-money-from-epstein-than-previously-reported/ ↩

  44. iMessage thread, Apr 23, 2019. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01615785 p.6. ↩

  45. Consulting agreement between Enhanced Education (a/k/a J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation) and Marvin Minsky, PhD, effective as of Aug 1, 2011, paragraphs 2–4. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00287078 pp.1–2. ↩ ↩2

  46. Same agreement, execution page. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00287078 p.4. ↩ ↩2

  47. Richard Kahn to Jeffrey Epstein, “Discussion Topics / Updates,” Jul 13, 2011, item (j). https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01802355 p.1. ↩

  48. Enhanced Education termination letters over Darren K. Indyke’s name, February 2012. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00584662 pp.1–2. ↩ ↩2

  49. Organisational file index (later version), J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation and Enhanced Education sections. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00299927 pp.16–17. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  50. Email thread, “quick question — AGI-16 snacks and reception sponsorship?”, Jul 11–15, 2016. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00667716 p.2. ↩ ↩2

  51. Jeffrey Epstein to Al Seckel, copy to Richard Kahn, May 19, 2010, 14:46:57 +0000. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00734529 p.1. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  52. Al Seckel to Jeffrey Epstein, copy to Richard Kahn, May 19, 2010, 15:01:59 +0000, attaching enhanced1.doc and enhanced2.doc. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00758789 p.1. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  53. Invoice, sheet 1 of 2, billed to “Enhanced Education / Palm Beach Florida”; the Invoice Date field and the totals block were read at the image at 600 dpi. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00731043 p.1. ↩ ↩2

  54. “Invoice — Wire Transfer Info.”, sheet 2 of 2; the same sheet is produced twice. Account-class fields on this page are not reproduced here. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00731044 p.1 and https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00731045 p.1. ↩

  55. The C.O.U.Q. Foundation, Inc., bank statement for the period 2/28/09 to 3/31/09, deposits and credits, Fed Wire credit of March 16. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01548605 p.2. ↩

  56. JPMorgan wire data produced in USVI v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., 22-cv-10904 (JSR), Doc. 285-36, Exhibit 155, filed Aug 15, 2023; spreadsheet row 23, whose columns run across two printed sheets. Row 23 and the rows either side of it were read at the image at 300 dpi, and the transaction amount at 600 dpi. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02816240 pp.3, 9. ↩ ↩2

  57. Education Advance, Schedule B to Form 990/990-EZ/990-PF (2017), Part I. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00811970 p.1. ↩

  58. Kate Briquelet and Lachlan Cartwright, “Notorious Billionaire Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein Funded This ‘Women’s Empowerment’ Advocate,” The Daily Beast, Mar 12, 2019. https://www.thedailybeast.com/billionaire-pedophile-jeffrey-epstein-funded-womens-empowerment-entrepreneur-lana-pozhidaeva ↩ ↩2

  59. Email from Epstein’s office, Feb 8, 2011. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02018812 p.1. ↩

  60. Email from Epstein’s office, Mar 22, 2011. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02007298 p.1. ↩

  61. Email to Jeffrey Epstein, Mar 28, 2014, “Fwd: travel invoices/credit- Lawrence summers”. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02713369 p.1. ↩ ↩2

  62. Enhanced Education to the St. Thomas Historical Trust, Jun 30, 2017, “Construction of Fort Christian Raveling Wall”; typed over Jeffrey E. Epstein’s name and unsigned. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00583474 p.1. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  63. Enhanced Education to the St. Thomas Historical Trust, Jul 3, 2017; typed over Jeffrey E. Epstein’s name and unsigned. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00584695 p.1. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  64. Supplemental Consent Agreement, Department of Planning and Natural Resources v. Great St. Jim, LLC, NOVA-04-16-STT, recitals. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00299482 pp.2-3. ↩

  65. Same agreement, execution page. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00299482 p.7. ↩

  66. Holland & Knight LLP to the Southern District of New York, Apr 15, 2020. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00091271 p.1. ↩ ↩2

  67. FirstBank Puerto Rico to the Southern District of New York, Mar 9, 2020, in response to a grand jury subpoena. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00065864 p.1. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  68. Same letter, continuation. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00065864 p.2. ↩

  69. Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP for JPMorgan Chase to the Southern District of New York, Sep 2, 2020, and Appendix A. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00096342 pp.1, 4. ↩ ↩2

  70. Deutsche Bank PWM Global KYC print, case 01977699, relationship details. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00169037 p.1. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  71. Same, legal entity details sheet. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00169037 p.15. ↩ ↩2

  72. Same, account ownership summary. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00169037 p.2. ↩

  73. Same thread, Richard Kahn to Epstein and Epstein’s reply, May 21, 2013. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01973658 p.1. ↩

  74. David Ingram, Reuters News, to Darren K. Indyke, Jan 29, 2015. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01138979 p.1. ↩ ↩2

  75. Same, continuation and signature. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA01138979 p.2. ↩ ↩2

  76. Gerald B. Lefcourt, P.C. to A. Marie Villafaña, Assistant United States Attorney, Southern District of Florida, Jun 12, 2007, responding to subpoenas of May 31, 2007. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00175998 pp.2-3. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  77. See JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. for the bank’s denials and the settlements. ↩

  78. Same accounting, Schedule G, civil claims. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00082467 p.14. ↩

  79. Organisational file index, “Dissolution of the COUQ Foundation, Inc.” https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00299927 p.15. ↩

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