MARLON ETTINGER, marlonjettinger@gmail.com, @MarlonEttinger
Ettinger just wrote the piece “Virgin Islands Attorney General Who Pursued Litigation Against Jeffrey Epstein Fired.” He covered the Ghislaine Maxwell trial and is working on a book about it.

U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan George released a statement Sunday night confirming that Attorney General Denise George was out as the territory’s top law enforcement position, reported the St. Thomas Source on Jan. 1.

Ettinger notes: “About a week ago, George filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase Bank, alleging that the financial institution had essentially served as a bank for Epstein’s criminal human trafficking enterprise.”

The suit [PDF], which has extensive redactions, charges: “In addition to having actual knowledge that it was participating in and facilitating the Epstein sex-trafficking venture, JPMorgan also knew that it was participating in and facilitating a venture that was engaged in coercive sex trafficking.”

Ettinger adds: “A month ago, the Virgin Islands government settled a $105 million civil suit against Epstein’s estate. I reported on that lawsuit here, where government prosecutors alleged that Epstein’s estate, led by its executors, lawyer Darren Indyke and accountant Richard Kahn (long time fixers for Epstein) hid money from the government, including by wiring money to a web of shell accounts opened in Indyke and Kahn’s spouses’ names.”

The Virgin Islands Daily News reports: “Former first lady Cecile de Jongh served as office manager at Epstein’s St. Thomas-based Southern Trust Company for 20 years. Bryan was serving as chairman of the Economic Development Commission at the time under deJongh’s husband, former Gov. John deJongh Jr., and signed off on the most recent certificate for Southern Trust in 2014, granting Epstein a 90 percent exemption from V.I. income taxes and a 100 percent exemption from gross receipts and excise taxes.”

See prior IPA news releases including “Maxwell Sentenced to 20 Years for Conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein: Will Powerful Men be Held Accountable?”

See recent interview with Whitney Webb, author of One Nation Under Blackmail: The Sordid Union Between Intelligence and Crime That Gave Rise to Jeffrey Epstein.