Files released by the Department of Justice revealed that financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein paid tuition for a student attending Elon University in fall 2009.
Documents show that Epstein paid $12,744 toward Fall Term tuition for a student identified as "Thomas," the son of Jeanne Brennan Wiebracht, the former campaign accountant for then-U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. John de Jongh.
Wiebracht did not respond to Elon News Network’s request for comment.
Epstein was arrested on July 6, 2019, on federal sex trafficking charges. A little more than a month later, Epstein was found dead in his cell in a New York City prison. Investigators concluded that he killed himself.
The DOJ added more than 3 million Epstein-related files to its website Jan. 30, including unredacted files with victim names and nude photos. Lawyers representing the victims of Epstein called for a judge to force the takedown of unredacted files in a letter from Sunday. The DOJ said it removed the unredacted documents in a letter released earlier today.
Twelve files reference Elon University, including emails between Epstein and Cecile de Jongh, the wife of John de Jongh and former first lady of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and two checks made out to Elon University in 2008 and 2009.
Elon University spokesperson Eric Townsend did not respond to Elon News Network’s request for comment.
Cecile de Jongh referred to Wiebracht in an email thanking Epstein on June 10, 2009, for agreeing to pay tuition for her two children and Wiebracht’s two children. The original email from earlier that day included tuition invoices for students attending American University, Elon University, Skidmore College and Wake Forest University, totaling $70,066.
The invoice for the students was strictly for tuition and fees, as the email from Cecile de Jongh noted that "room/board" was excluded from the request.
In a response to the tuition invoices, Epstein characterized the payments as a personal favor.
"It is a treat," Epstein wrote in an email to Cecile de Jongh on June 10, 2009. "Its as if i had my own kids in college."
As of 12:30 p.m. Feb. 2, one of the 12 files referencing Elon University is no longer accessible on the DOJ’s website. That file contained a 2023 deposition of John de Jongh as part of a lawsuit by the government of the Virgin Islands against JPMorgan Chase Bank, which the government accused of facilitating Epstein's crimes by providing banking services. The file was previously available Feb. 1.
In the deposition, John was asked whether “Thomas” was a reference to the son of his former campaign accountant, Wiebracht.
“I’m going to presume so, yes,” John said.
Alongside the emails, the documents released by the DOJ show two checks made out to Elon University from Epstein. One for the fall tuition payment of $12,774 dated June 17, 2009 and another for $31,484 dated Aug. 21, 2008.
The documents do not show details on the purpose of the 2008 check. However, the memo line of the check includes the same student identification number as the 2009 check.
Wiebracht currently serves as the vice president of Finance and Administration for the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands, a public charity in the Virgin Islands. According to a member director from the U.S. Virgin Islands Public Accountancy, Wiebracht was a certified public accountant in the U.S. Virgin Islands as of September 2024. The document listed the expiration date for Wiebracht’s certification as June 30, 2025. Wiebract is not listed as a CPA on the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy’s website. It is unclear whether or not Wiebracht is still a CPA.
The tuition payments were part of a lengthy relationship between the de Jongh family and Epstein. Cecile de Jongh worked as an office manager for Epstein's companies. Little Saint James, which was Epstein’s private island, is located south of St. Thomas, an island in the Virgin Islands. Epstein received lucrative tax benefits from the U.S. Virgin Islands government. JPMorgan Chase claimed that Epstein received more than $300 million in tax incentives and waived sex offender monitoring requirements. The lawsuit between JPMorgan Chase and the U.S. Virgin Islands government was settled in 2023 for $75 million. A separate lawsuit filed by six Epstein victims against the U.S. Virgin Islands and the de Jonghs alleged that the defendants facilitated Epstein’s sex trafficking ring in exchange for money and influence.