--- alias: - John de Jongh Jr. - John P. de Jongh - John P. de Jongh Jr. - John deJongh - John deJongh Jr. - John DeJongh - Governor John de Jongh category: Political Figure created: 2026-09-25 location: Estate Mafolie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands relations: - end: 2015-01-05 fn: 1 role: governor start: 2007-01 type: head_of with: '[[Government of the United States Virgin Islands]]' - fn: 7 role: husband type: spouse_of with: '[[Cecile de Jongh]]' - end: 2015-01-05 fn: 5 role: Commissioner of Labor start: 2007-05-03 type: appointed with: '[[Albert Bryan]]' - end: 2016-01-22 fn: 2 reverse: true role: acting attorney general, embezzlement charges dismissed with prejudice start: 2015-08-18 type: prosecuted with: '[[Claude Walker]]' summary: John de Jongh Jr. was the two-term governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands from 2007 to 2015, whose wife managed Jeffrey Epstein's territorial office and whose 2015 embezzlement prosecution ended in a settlement. tags: - Person - VirginIslands - Governor - JeffreyEpstein - Embezzlement - GovernmentCapture - EconomicDevelopmentCommission updated: 2026-09-25 --- John P. de Jongh Jr. was the governor of the [U.S. Virgin Islands](/places/us-virgin-islands/) for two terms, from 2007 to January 2015. Throughout both terms his wife, [Cecile de Jongh](/people/cecile-de-jongh/), was office manager of [Jeffrey Epstein's](/people/jeffrey-epstein/) territorial companies, [Financial Trust Company](/organizations/financial-trust-company/) and [Southern Trust Company](/organizations/southern-trust-company/), which held tax-incentive certificates from the [Economic Development Commission](/organizations/economic-development-commission/); he and his Commissioner of Labor, [Albert Bryan](/people/albert-bryan/), who chaired that commission, both signed off on an extension of Southern Trust's benefits. In August 2015 the administration of his successor, [Kenneth Mapp](/people/kenneth-mapp/), had him arrested on territorial embezzlement charges over about 490,000 dollars in public highway funds spent on security at his private home; the charges were dismissed with prejudice in January 2016 after he paid 380,000 dollars.[^1][^2][^3] ### Governor, 2007 to 2015 De Jongh took office in 2007 and declined to move into the governor's official residence at Estate Catherineberg, remaining at his private house at Estate Mafolie on [St. Thomas](/places/st-thomas/). He said renovating Catherineberg for a family would have required more than a year of work at an estimated cost above 1.5 million dollars plus 80,000 dollars a year in housing expenses. He appointed Bryan Commissioner of Labor on May 3, 2007, and Bryan served through the end of his administration. De Jongh defeated Mapp in the 2010 election for a second term.[^1][^2][^4][^5][^6] ### Epstein and the First Lady Cecile de Jongh drew her salary from Epstein's companies while serving as First Lady, earning more than 200,000 dollars in 2007, the year her husband took office; the employment was reported in 2012. That year a Washington reporter asked Government House whether she had helped Financial Trust obtain its tax benefits. She drafted a response for Epstein stating that she worked "in the capacity of office manager" and "had nothing to do with Financial Trust Company receiving EDC tax benefits"; when Epstein suggested simply stating that she was an office manager, she replied, "That's what John went with." [JPMorgan Chase](/organizations/jpmorgan-chase/) later alleged in court that Epstein paid tuition for the couple's children and that she asked him to help fund her husband's re-election.[^7][^8][^9] The Economic Development Commission certificate for Southern Trust, signed by Bryan as chairman, is dated January 24, 2014. That day Cecile de Jongh asked Epstein to match 15,000 dollars she had raised for "John's final State of the Territory reception," writing that "John and I will cover the balance," and an hour later asked Epstein's accountant [Richard Kahn](/people/richard-kahn/) to prepare a 15,000 dollar check "payable to Governor's Special Events Fund." Bryan and de Jongh both signed off on an extension of Epstein's Southern Trust benefits.[^3][^10] Registered sex offenders in the territory must generally give 21 days' notice of travel. A prior Attorney General, [Vincent Frazer](/people/vincent-frazer/), had allowed Epstein to give 24 hours' notice. The later Attorney General [Denise George](/people/denise-george/) told the [Federal Bureau of Investigation](/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation/) in 2023 that she "believed that Frazer was pressured by then Governor John De Jongh." The arrangement was rescinded in March 2019.[^3][^9] ### The Mafolie Prosecution Beginning in 2007 the Department of Public Works spent more than 490,000 dollars on a fence, a guardhouse, and a camera system at the Mafolie house, after obtaining an opinion from the territorial Attorney General's office that the work was permissible if it served the public interest. In 2010 the U.S. Interior Department Inspector General concluded that the renovations "usurped the Legislature's authority to determine how to spend public funds" and that the money should be returned. In April 2015, after leaving office, de Jongh paid the Department of Property and Procurement 202,832.60 dollars, which he said was the appraised fair-market value of the improvements; in May the Mapp administration's Acting Attorney General Terri Griffiths returned the payment as less than the 497,000.25 dollars the Inspector General had found owed.[^1][^2][^4] On August 18, 2015, Acting Attorney General Claude Walker announced the arrest of de Jongh and Julito Francis, former director of the Virgin Islands Public Finance Authority, on two counts each of embezzlement of public monies and neglecting to pay over public monies, alleging that between April 2007 and January 2009 they "acted in concert" to convert 490,000 dollars of highway funds to improvements at the governor's private residence "without authority of law." The arrest was carried out solely by the territorial Department of Justice; asked why federal authorities were not involved, Walker did not have an answer. De Jongh pleaded not guilty on September 3, 2015, saying every step "was taken with full transparency and in adherence to standard government procedures on procurement."[^1][^4] In a November 2015 motion to dismiss, his attorneys called the case "a politically-driven, poorly conceived vendetta initiated by the current governor, whom Governor de Jongh defeated handily in his last reelection campaign in 2010," and "a disgrace both upon the Virgin Islands Department of Justice and the Governor's Office," contrasting it with Mapp's own spending on hotel suites, limousines, and a personal chef. In January 2016 the charges were dismissed with prejudice after de Jongh paid the government 380,000 dollars. "I would like to thank our community for the heartfelt support that has been expressed to me and my family during this period," he said.[^2][^6] [^1]: "Governor John P. de Jongh Arrested By DOJ Officials." *The Virgin Islands Consortium,* August 18, 2015. https://viconsortium.com/vi-world/governor-john-p-de-jongh-arrested-being-processed-at-district-court (archived at https://wp.viconsortium.com/?p=27084). [^2]: "DOJ Drops Charges Against Former Governor De Jongh After $380,000 Settlement." *The Virgin Islands Consortium,* January 22, 2016. https://viconsortium.com/vi-vic_news/doj-drops-charges-against-former-governor-de-jongh-with-prejudice-after-380000-settlement (archived at https://wp.viconsortium.com/?p=33926). [^3]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Docs confirm Bryan pressed for special treatment of sex offender." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-confirm-bryan-pressed-for-special-treatment-of-sex-offender/article_5e9483c9-38d2-406c-8bb0-e5757ce287f2.html (Cecile de Jongh's employment throughout her husband's tenure; Frazer waiver; George's FBI account; extension of Southern Trust benefits signed off by Bryan and de Jongh). [^4]: "De Jong Pleads Not Guilty In Superior Court, Says He Believes In 'Just And Proper' Outcome." *The Virgin Islands Consortium,* September 3, 2015. https://viconsortium.com/vi-vic_news/de-jong-pleads-not-guilty-in-superior-court-says-he-believes-in-just-and-proper-outcome (archived at https://wp.viconsortium.com/?p=27962). [^5]: "Governor Albert Bryan Jr." Biography submitted to the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, hearing of March 24, 2021. https://docs.house.gov/meetings/II/II00/20210324/111384/HHRG-117-II00-Bio-BryanJrA-20210324.pdf (Bryan as Commissioner of Labor under de Jongh, May 3, 2007 to January 5, 2015). [^6]: "De Jongh Attorneys Slam Mapp And Walker; Call Case Against Former Governor Sham, Disgrace And Poltically-Driven." *The Virgin Islands Consortium,* November 4, 2015. https://viconsortium.com/vi-government/de-jongh-attorneys-slam-mapp-administration-says-case-against-former-governor-is-sham-disgrace-and-poltically-driven (archived at https://wp.viconsortium.com/?p=30871). [^7]: "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/ [^8]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Court filings show V.I. First Lady's loyalty to Epstein." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* June 21, 2023. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/court-filings-show-v-i-first-ladys-loyalty-to-epstein/article_c2dca0a7-a243-5365-88c0-389c576ad022.html [^9]: "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 ; "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 [^10]: "V.I. Officials Enabled Epstein to Act With Impunity, JPMorgan Alleges in Latest Salvo." *St. Thomas Source,* June 16, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20240721172424/https://stthomassource.com/content/2023/06/16/v-i-officials-enabled-epstein-to-act-with-impunity-jpmorgan-alleges-in-latest-salvo/