--- alias: - Cecile Galiber de Jongh - Cecile R. de Jongh category: Political Figure created: 2026-06-20 location: St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands summary: Cecile de Jongh was the First Lady of the U.S. Virgin Islands from 2007 to 2015 and the office manager of Jeffrey Epstein's territorial companies, whom court filings later cast as his primary conduit for spreading money and influence through the territory's government. tags: - Person - JeffreyEpstein - VirginIslands - GovernmentCapture - SouthernTrust - TaxFraud - SexOffender updated: 2026-06-20 --- Cecile de Jongh (born Cecile Galiber) was the office manager of [Jeffrey Epstein's](/people/jeffrey-epstein/) U.S. Virgin Islands entities, including Financial Trust Company and its successor [Southern Trust Company](/organizations/southern-trust-company/), a position she held from 2007 to 2015. During the same years her husband, John de Jongh, served as the territory's seventh governor, making her the First Lady of the Government of the United States Virgin Islands. A January 2020 civil enforcement complaint by the Virgin Islands [Attorney General](/people/denise-george/), and later filings by [JPMorgan Chase](/organizations/jpmorgan-chase/) in related litigation, alleged that she used her dual position to manage Epstein's local affairs, influence territorial legislation, and direct his money toward officials while he was a registered sex offender.[^1][^2] ### Position and Compensation De Jongh worked as the office manager of Epstein's Virgin Islands companies from 2007, the year her husband took office, through 2015, the year his term ended. JPMorgan's filings stated that she earned more than 200,000 dollars in compensation in 2007 alone for the role. The companies that employed her, Financial Trust Company and later Southern Trust Company, were the entities through which Epstein held his territorial tax benefits under the Economic Development Commission program and through which his Virgin Islands operations were funded.[^1][^2] The same filings alleged that Epstein paid tuition for de Jongh's children, that she forwarded her children's tuition bills to him for payment, and that she requested he help fund her husband's re-election campaign. In her May 2023 deposition, taken at the Ritz-Carlton on St. Thomas over roughly five and a half hours, de Jongh described confronting Epstein after his 2006 Florida arrest, saying she looked him in the eye and asked what was going on, and was assured it was a one-time mistake that would not recur. The arrangement continued after Epstein registered as a sex offender following his 2008 Florida plea.[^2][^3] The employment overlapped entirely with her public role. While serving as First Lady from 2007 to 2015, she simultaneously drew her salary from Epstein's companies, an overlap that was reported contemporaneously and that became the foundation of the later allegations. The settlement that resolved the Virgin Islands case against the Epstein estate included language shielding Epstein employees from civil liability, and no charges were brought against de Jongh personally.[^2][^4] ### Alleged Influence on Territorial Government JPMorgan's 2023 court filings described de Jongh as Epstein's "primary conduit for spreading money and influence throughout the USVI government." According to those filings, in 2011 she emailed Epstein proposed language for legislation increasing sex-offender monitoring, asking, "This is the suggested language; will it work for you?" The bank alleged that after a monitoring bill passed she wrote that "all is not lost and we will figure something out by coming up with a game plan to get around these obstacles." The draft she circulated concerned the section of the Virgin Islands Code governing the travel and reporting requirements imposed on registered sex offenders.[^2][^5] The filings further alleged that de Jongh advised Epstein on how to "buy control of the USVI political class," coordinated meetings between him and commissioners, senators, and gubernatorial candidates, recommended placing a sitting senator on a monthly retainer for loyalty and access, and tracked which candidates he funded. They alleged she helped secure student visas for young women connected to Epstein by arranging their enrollment in classes at the University of the Virgin Islands to provide cover for their presence in the territory, and that she offered to have someone else sign tuition letters so that the registered sex offender's signature would not appear on the paperwork. She was also alleged to have worked with the Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority to keep Epstein's companies in compliance so the tax benefits continued, and to have guided his charitable donations to satisfy program requirements.[^2][^5] These allegations originate in the Virgin Islands Attorney General's complaint and in JPMorgan's filings, the latter of which the territory characterized as hyperbole offered to deflect the bank's own liability for failing to report suspicious activity. De Jongh did not respond to requests for comment when the filings were unsealed in 2023. The allegations describe a pattern of conduct rather than any criminal adjudication, and she was never charged.[^2][^4] [^1]: "Virgin Islands governor's wife employed by convicted sex-offender billionaire." *The Daily Caller,* April 22, 2012. https://dailycaller.com/2012/04/22/virgin-islands-governors-wife-employed-by-convicted-sex-offender-billionaire/ [^2]: "JPMorgan alleges wife of U.S. Virgin Islands' ex-governor aided Jeffrey Epstein's criminal activity." *NBC News,* May 24, 2023. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jpmorgan-alleges-ex-virgin-islands-first-lady-aided-jeffrey-epstein-rcna86365 [^3]: "Cecile de Jongh Testifies She Confronted Epstein After His 2006 Arrest." *St. Thomas Source,* July 26, 2023. https://stthomassource.com/content/2023/07/26/cecile-de-jongh-testifies-she-confronted-epstein-after-his-2006-arrest/ [^4]: "JPMorgan Chase says Jeffrey Epstein paid tuition for kids of U.S. Virgin Islands governor." *CNBC,* May 25, 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/25/jpmorgan-jeffrey-epstein-paid-tuition-for-kids-of-virgin-islands-governor.html [^5]: "JPMorgan accuses wife of former Virgin Islands governor of aiding Epstein." *Fortune,* May 25, 2023. https://fortune.com/2023/05/25/jpmorgan-jeffrey-epstein-virgin-islands-first-lady-sex-trafficking-de-jongh ; Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904 (S.D.N.Y. 2022).