August 20, 2025 • 25 mins
Jeffrey Epstein’s so-called charity was a parody of philanthropy—a glossy storefront for laundering money, buying influence, and disguising the true scope of his criminal enterprise. On paper, the foundation claimed to support science, education, and global causes. In reality, the filings showed paltry amounts actually going to legitimate charities while large sums flowed into projects that padded Epstein’s image or circled back into his own network. It was the classic predator’s playbook: slap a humanitarian label on the operation, and suddenly hedge fund cash, foreign transfers, and murky “donations” could move around under the guise of benevolence.
The real sickness was how the law enabled it. Charitable foundations enjoy enormous tax advantages and face laughably weak oversight. Epstein exploited this loophole masterfully, using his “philanthropy” not only to launder funds but to open doors into elite academic and scientific institutions that gave him legitimacy. Universities and research centers took his money, looked the other way, and in return gave him access to some of the brightest young minds he could exploit. The so-called charity wasn’t charity at all—it was a financial and social laundering machine, perfectly legal on the surface yet utterly corrupt in function.
(commercial at 11:58)
To contact me:
bobbycapucci@protonmail.com
source:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/26/business/jeffrey-epstein-charity.html
The real sickness was how the law enabled it. Charitable foundations enjoy enormous tax advantages and face laughably weak oversight. Epstein exploited this loophole masterfully, using his “philanthropy” not only to launder funds but to open doors into elite academic and scientific institutions that gave him legitimacy. Universities and research centers took his money, looked the other way, and in return gave him access to some of the brightest young minds he could exploit. The so-called charity wasn’t charity at all—it was a financial and social laundering machine, perfectly legal on the surface yet utterly corrupt in function.
(commercial at 11:58)
To contact me:
bobbycapucci@protonmail.com
source:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/26/business/jeffrey-epstein-charity.html
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
What's up, everyone, and welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles.
We've been talking about the financial portion of the Jeffrey
Epstein criminal enterprise for quite some time here on the podcast,
and I think it's one of the most underreported and
least talked about portions of this case, which is very
(00:23):
odd to me considering we all know that it's the
financial ties that bind. We all know that if you
follow the money, eventually you're going to find a criminal.
But the government, even after Jeffrey Epstein's death and arrest,
they didn't seem to have any desire to follow the money.
They didn't seem to have any desire to bring in
(00:45):
the proper people to go through this stuff forensically and
figure out what the hell went on here, because Jeffrey
Epstein was manipulating the system at every turn, whether it
be with his offshore money spots, whether it be with
business deals or fake charities, even like we're going to
(01:06):
talk about today, you name it, Jeffrey Epstein was involved
in it. When it comes to financial ill gotten gains
and financial misdeeds, Jeffrey Epstein was involved in all of it.
And it's something that doesn't get enough talk because I'll
tell you what. If these investigators were really serious about
(01:28):
all of this, and they were really serious about bringing
the remnants of Jeffrey Epstein's criminal enterprise under heel, they'd
slap a Rico charge on all of these people and
then they dive into their financials with a fine tooth comb.
And until we see that happening, then I have to say,
we're never getting the full look at what went on here.
(01:50):
We're only getting little pieces, right, a little look in
the room maybe. Whereas we all know, Glen Maxwell is
a disgusting excuse for a human being. She is not
the only one involved here. She was the underbossed right,
the Epstein's right hand woman, But she wasn't the only
one involved. She certainly wasn't involved in the financial angle
(02:13):
like Indyke or Khan or some of these other people.
So what I would like to see probably never going
to see it. But what I would like to see
is a nice fat rico case all of these people
caught up. Anybody who ever had money transferred to them
by Jeffrey Epstein has to have a look because we
(02:34):
know that all of his money originated from a dark place, right,
ill gotten gains So if you're receiving ill gotten gains
from somebody who is caught up in a RICO case,
well now you are a target in that RICO case
as well. And that's how RICO works, and that's why
everybody's so terrified of it. I've seen it firsthand. I've
(02:55):
seen RICO apply to people I care about firsthand and
seen how it ruined them over illegal sports gambling. By
the way, Meanwhile, you have Jeffrey Epstein and his friends
opening up banks all kinds of crazy shit and no penalties.
Nobody's going to jail. His banker doesn't go to jail,
his lawyer doesn't go to jail, his accountant doesn't go
(03:17):
to jail. And you wonder why people have no faith
in the system or in these institutions. All right, Today,
our article is from the New York Times and the
headline of this article is Jeffrey Epstein's charity an image
boost built on deception. This article was authored by Steve
(03:39):
Etter and Matthew Goldstein. Now we reached back into the
vault for this one, folks. This is an article from
November twenty sixth of twenty nineteen, and considering there's a
bit of a lull today as far as new news,
I thought we'd slide this one in and keep things
rolling on the financial track. Jeffrey Epstein's foundation looked for
(04:03):
all the world like a charitable powerhouse. On its websites
and then its press releases, the foundation was described as
a patron of hospitals, universities, and film festivals run by
a global philanthropist. And this is what's so galling right.
Everybody knew what this guy was up to. All of
the scumbags in his atmosphere knew what do you think
(04:25):
they sat around and his hubris didn't have him acting
in a brazen manner telling these people what he was about,
maybe not directly, but hinting at it. And then if
you're one of these people hanging out with them all
the time, you mean to tell me you never had
any questions why he's there without any I mean, with
these young girls, where are their parents, his niece or
(04:46):
his nephew or anything like that. He just happens to
have all of these young girls around and nobody has
any questions for him. The organization, known by various names,
but usually called the Jay Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, wasn't
officially a charity for much of its existence, having lost
its taxes that tax exempt status in two thousand and eight,
(05:10):
but it worked to his advantage, helping improve the reputation
of mister Epstein, a convicted sex offender. And remember that's
what it was all about. After his arrest, Epstein went
on the full court press trying to refurbish his reputation.
He wanted to come back into civil society. He wanted
to make his comeback, and he was convinced that it
(05:30):
was going to be able to happen if these sort
of people would help him refurbish his disgusting and beat
up reputation. And the sad part is, folks, a lot
of these so called elites, a lot of these scumbags
that are out there crowing about this or that they
let him do it. There's no investigations, no Irs agents
(05:53):
dispatched to go and talk to him, just left up
to his own devices, to the perils of everybody else.
A review of tax documents, government records, and information provided
by federal officials shows that the foundation lost its tax
exempt status for an unknown reason. In the same year
(06:15):
mister Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor
and unknown reason. Huh oh, I'm sure it had everything
to do with him not being involved with abusing kids, right,
it's absurd. We all know what the reason is. But
the crazy part is all of these people knew behind
the scenes what was going on, and nobody acted. None
(06:39):
of these law enforcement officials, none of these officials down
in the Virgin Islands who knew what was going on.
Nobody all because they were too busy stuffing their pockets
full of Jeffrey Epstein's disgusting ass, gross ill gotten money.
In the years between that case and to suicide in August,
(07:00):
as he faced federal sex trafficking charges, mister Epstein was
unshackled from the rigorous financial disclosures that charities are supposed
to file every year with the government, allowing him to
exaggerate his philanthropy as he sought to rebuild his reputation.
The foundation's portrayals of its giving ranged from simple embellishment
to staggering overstatement that means lying. Okay, let's just be
(07:24):
very real with what it means. Epstein and his team
they were forging everything. They were if there were anything
besides sick disgusting, twisted wanna be human beings. They were
all liars as well. They sure had a huge idea
about who they were, and it certainly didn't match up
with reality. One of mister Epstein's websites said the Foundation
(07:49):
had helped to underwrite the Tribeca Film Festival festival, when
in fact it had donated twenty eight thousand dollars to
a related organization that offers grants to filmmakers and educational
programming to students in New York City. So that's definitely
always been a trademark of Epstein. He's always been one
of those guys who likes to exaggerate about things. That's
(08:12):
why you always have to take what he says with
a grain of salt. Right when you hear quotes from Epstein,
you know, it's very difficult to take him at face value.
The foundation sent out news releases touting donations to the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology to restore Mark rothcomburals and teach
(08:33):
coding to five year olds, claims that officials at the
school later called inaccurate. Oh, I'm sure they were inaccurate. Again, Look,
I don't trust MIT either, considering their relationship with Epstein
and the way they're trying to foster their image now
and fix their image after it was revealed how deep
their ties were with Epstein. Of course they're going to
be in cover your ass mode as well. Oh well,
(08:55):
we had no idea what was going on here. That's inaccurate.
That never happened. It also issued a statement in twenty
thirteen saying researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital had made a
major advance in breast cancer research with the backing of
mister Epstein, although the health system's own release makes no
mention of him. I mean stolen valor wearing the Navy
(09:18):
seal shit, acting like he's, you know, a big wig
here helping out people with breast cancer, which I take
umbrage with considering the love of my life battled through
Stage two B breast cancer a few years ago, and
it was one of the most grueling, rigorous eighteen months
of my I can't even can't even explain how rigorous
the eighteen months was. It was very, very difficult watching
(09:42):
somebody I care about and love more than the world
suffer like that and not be able to do anything
but provide emotional and mental support, wake up every day,
take her to the doctor, chemotherapy, then onto radiation, then
after that still back and forth to the doctors for
a while. It is all bad and I don't wish
(10:03):
that on nobody. And anybody acting like they're involved in
that and helping people who are going through that and
they're really not well, they certainly make my list of
top scumbags, folks, because that is not something to joke
around with. It's not something to make pretendre helping out
with if you're not, because it's serious business. People's lives
(10:23):
are shattered when they're sitting in that hospital room and
they get that diagnosis. I'm sorry to tell you you
have cancer. Let me tell you what. Everything changes that day, folks,
Every single thing changes, And it certainly was the case
for me. So when I see people out here acting like,
you know, they're helping people with cancer and then pulling
a pump fake and shit, it really really bothers me.
(10:47):
But the most glaring exaggeration appeared on Wikipedia. A username
apparently connected to mister Epstein edited the page for the
foundation and put its annual outlay at two hundred million
dollars a year, just under the amount the Facebook founder
Mark Zuckerberg contributed to charity in two thousand and eighteen.
(11:07):
Now we know Epstein wasn't dumping that kind to go
into any kind of charity. Zero chance that money was
more better used for his criminal enterprise. In reality, the
foundation was worth a small fraction of that amount. According
to documents obtained by The New York Times through a
public records lawsuit in the Virgin Islands, eighteen years of
(11:31):
financial statements showed that just under twenty million dollars flowed
into the foundation since it was founded in two thousand,
a lot less than the two hundred million. Huh. Again,
you see what I'm talking about with these scumbags. They'll
even use this their charity. They'll wrap themselves in this
charity stuff and use it as a shield as armor.
And I really really detest it. It's really gross. It's
(11:54):
there's not enough words to really explain the grossness. Roughly
sixteen point six million was spent on donations in grants,
most of the rest paid unspecified general and administrative expenses,
and one and a half million dollars in interest for
what appears to be an undisclosed debt. Oh an undisclosed debt? Huh?
(12:16):
I wonder, I wonder which scumbag was getting that junk
of change. Which scumbag had their hands in that pie.
The documents which were filed with the Virgin Islands Division
of Corporations and Trademarks do not offer details about where
the money came from or ended up. That information would
be contained in the public document Form nine ninety that
(12:37):
charities are required to file each year with the Internal
Revenue Service. But there is just one publicly available Form
nine ninety from the Foundation, a single page filing in
two thousand and two, and it does not include any
information on grants or donations. So you see, here's my
big problem. All right, you have all of these government
(12:59):
officials and all of these these people who are now
talking about how these financial crimes occurred and how the
system was manipulated. Meanwhile, this guy wasn't even filing the
right paperwork, wasn't following any of the Finsen regulations, and
nothing happened to him. There was never an investigation, there
(13:19):
was never a raid, nobody was arrested. In fact, he
was hooked up in the Virgin Islands. And this is
why I say the Virgin Islands should not see one
single dollar. They're the ones who let all of this
happen down there, all right, so they shouldn't just be
let off the hook. The officials down there. Nobody's going
to get arrested, none of that until that happens. I
(13:39):
don't want to hear about the Virgin Islands thinks they
should have some of this money because all of this
shit happened on all of their watch and nobody wanted
to do anything about it until the wall started to
fall down. Mister Epstein's website portrayed the Foundation as an
organization with high standards and high aspirations for changing the world.
(14:00):
I mean, yeah, you know, definitely what it was a
definitely an organization with high standards. If high standards to
you mean no standards whatsoever. A page from one site
described a multi stage grant process that asked applicants to
describe how their project was innovative, the pressing need it
(14:22):
would address, and an explanation of how they would evaluate
their results. The page from twenty ten also said it
was vital to understand that the Foundation and another run
by mister Epstein were not piggybanks. No, they were away
for Epstein to get his claws into some of these
scientists or some of these projects, and then that way
he can do what he wished with the information, sell
(14:44):
it onto his handler or whatever it is. That was
the whole goal for Epstein. But that was the term
that Martin Shield, a retired supervisory special Agent with the
Criminal Investigation's Division of the IRS, used to describe the Foundation.
Its lack of disclosures, he said, could be an overt
(15:06):
act of concealment. Oh, it could be. Huh so, where's
the IRS kicking in the doors. Where's the IRS sending
in all of the agents? Oh, they only do that
if it's you. Guess what tax days coming, folks, You
better make sure yours are filed. It's not clear if
such misrepresentations amounted to a crime. False statements meant to
fraudently solicit donations are illegal and generally prosecuted by state
(15:30):
attorneys general. Yeah, when they're not in the pocket of
the accused, when they're not you know, dipping their hands
into the trough. Yeah, then then you might have some indictments.
But Jeffrey Epstein, no way. The DUDO was protected obviously
wherever he went and was able to initiate these sorts
of schemes, scams and plots, and nobody wanted to do
(15:51):
anything about it. The New York State Attorney General's Office
began inquiring in twenty fifteen whether the foundation, which said
on one of its sites that had had offices in
Manhattan and the Virgin Islands, needed to register as a
charity in New York. Mister Epstein's longtime lawyer, Darren Endyke,
replied that the site was inaccurate and that the foundation
(16:14):
was operated out of an office in Saint Thomas. So
they can't even get their act together as far as
where business is being conducted in this company right, oh,
to Virgin Islands or to New York. And then the
regulators are just like, oh, okay, whatever you say, mister Epstein,
instead of really digging in like they usually do. Eh,
(16:34):
we'll move on to an easier target, lower hanging fruit,
if you will. Mister Dyke, who is one of two
executors of mister Epstein's estate, did not respond to messages
seeking comment. Before regulators closed their inquiry, mister Endyke provided
them with a copy of a letter the foundation received
from the IRS in two thousand verifying its status as
(16:57):
a charitable tax exempt organization. Oh, I'm su sure Jeffrey
Epstein's getting passports from Saudi Arabia and other countries. You
really think he's gonna have a problem pulling some levers
here to get tax exempt status. But he never disclosed
that the agency had dropped the foundation from its official
(17:17):
role of tax exempt organizations. The foundation was set up
as part of mister Epstein's participation in a lucrative program
in the Virgin Islands that offered big tax breaks to
his businesses, Financial Trust in Southern Trust in return for
philanthropic commitment to charities in the territory. And you see
where the whole asked for the money comes in now
(17:39):
down in the Virgin Islands. But again, these officials are
the ones that put Jeffrey Epstein into business, right, they
let him set up shop down there. They're the ones
that should have been regulating this, going over it with
a fine tooth comb, but instead they set it all up.
Then they turn around and then they want to play
the fool and act like they had no idea. Sorry,
that doesn't work. One of mister Epstein's sales pitchs to
(18:05):
his wealthy clients was offering tax advantage strategies that sometimes
included charitable giving. Reports from the agency that approved the
tax incentives show the foundation made more than one point
eight million dollars in donations to charities, educational scholarships and
symposiums there In an emailed statement, the Virgin Islands Economic
(18:26):
Development Authority said the foundation was established primarily for the
purpose of making charitable contributions to the Virgin Islands community.
Well one point eight million dollars in donations, all right,
but public records show it also carried out some unusual transactions.
Of course it did. He wasn't being regulated or monitored.
He throws one point eight million dollars towards the Virgin
(18:48):
Island Economic Development Authority. They look the other way. You
guys all know how this game is played. I don't
need to explain this to you. You've all been seeing
this for how many years now. In two thousand and
eight seventeen, the foundation, also known as Enhanced Education, cut
a check for one hundred and sixty thousand dollars to
pay fines mister Epstein incurred for permanent violations on his
(19:12):
private islands. Its funds also backed the causes of political
officials in the Virgin Islands, including up to thirty thousand
dollars to support a computer giveaway by an elected official.
The foundation has also contributed tens of thousands of dollars
to other groups, including the territory's Chamber of Commerce. So
you see, they've already gotten their cut the Virgin Islands.
(19:34):
And this is why I'm so adamant about them not
getting any more of this money, especially considering we see
how a lot of these survivors got lowballed. One hundred
and twenty five million, one hundred and thirty five million
going out to the survivors a mere one sixth of
Jeffrey Epstein's fortune, and the Virgin Islands, with all of
this in mind, still thinks they're entitled to a little piece.
(19:55):
Federal investigators have taken an interest in the foundation. In August,
the FBI contacted the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and
Natural Resources about the payment to resolve the permit violations.
Agents asked whether the department had a policy prohibiting a
charitable foundation from paying the penalty, said Jamal Nielsen, a
spokesman for the department. He said the contribution did not
(20:18):
violate any department rules. Oh of course it didn't. You know.
It never violates any rules when they're the ones benefiting
from it, does it. The FBI in New York declined
to comment, citing an ongoing investigation. It's not clear how
the foundation lost its tax exempt status. It could have
given it up, or it may have been taken away
(20:39):
after an IRS investigation. Eric L. Smith, a spokesman for
the IRS, said the agency could not comment, citing federal
privacy laws. That's another thing the government likes to do.
Right up, there's an investigation right now. We can't give
you any information. The IRS can also revoke tax exempts
(21:00):
status if a foundation fails to file a Form nine
ninety for three consecutive years, although that rule took effect
in twenty ten. Stephen T. Miller, a former acting IRS
Commissioner and now the national director of tax at Alliance Group,
said Form nine nineties are vital both for regulators and
(21:20):
the general public to understand the finances of a given entity.
Zero chance we were ever going to get a look
behind the curtain at Jeffrey Epstein's finances. This guy was
not a genius, like everybody says, but the dude certainly
was good at hiding money and manipulating the financial sector,
especially considering all of the people he had dispersed throughout
(21:42):
it to help him out. The scant filings by mister
Epstein's foundation, he said, showed a lack of transparency, and
over the years, mister Epstein operated at least three other charities,
including one based in the Virgin Islands. Mister Endyke's lawyer
long served at as an officer for mister Epstein's charities
and other businesses. Again, Darren and Dyke's name all over
(22:05):
the place. No indictment, no deposition, no self responsibility. Two
of mister Epstein's foundations relied on wealthy business titans to
provide millions in seed capital. His co UQ Foundation received
about twenty one million in stock and cash from charities
(22:26):
of Leslie H. Wexner, the billionaire retail magnate whose company
owns Victoria's Secret. Mister Epstein's Gratitude America Foundation received ten
million dollars in donations in twenty fifteen from a company
tied to the private equity billionaire Leon D. Black. And
you see what I mean, by folks, Why I call
this such a sham. All of these guys are donating
(22:48):
to these sham ass foundations and this turns into ill
gotten gains. And this is a RICO case right here,
right here, in front of us. And believe me, I'm
certainly no FBI agent or agent or Treasury Department official.
But come on, if you're going to slap people with
RICO over illegal gambling or wire fraud, you mean to
(23:08):
tell me this doesn't deserve at least a full on investigation,
a full on look. Mister Epstein's other foundations complied with
federal disclosure rules, making his namesake foundation the outlier. It
doesn't pass the smell test, said mister Shield, the retired
IRS special Agent. After his two thousand and eight conviction,
(23:31):
mister Epstein took great pains to burnish his reputation, and
the foundation played a key role, and so did all
of those enablers that were around him that we talk
about all the time. In twenty thirteen, a Wikipedia user
named Turville made a number of changes to the page
for the foundation. The changes including saying he found the
foundation had given more than two hundred million dollars to
(23:53):
a long list of notable scientists since its inception, then
raised its claim further by disc describing that sum as
its approximate annual outlay, So basically just lying about things.
This person went on Wikipedia and just started changing the
Wikipedia page to all sorts of fanciful whismical bs. The
(24:15):
user's name connection to mister Epstein is evident from information
he disclosed in New Mexico as a result of his
two thousand and eight conviction. He provided a list of
online user names, including those used by third party reputation
management services he hired. On that list was a Wikipedia
handle Turville that does not appear anywhere on the website,
(24:38):
but the similar name Turville does, and that user had
a particular focus on editing articles about mister Epstein. So
you see how this works, right, Epstein out there trying
to foster his image, then hits the Internet to do
a quick sweep to make sure everything lines up. Meanwhile,
the irs, the government, nobody's the wives or huh, nobody
(25:02):
has any idea what's going on. As we continue to
dive deeper into this disgusting rabbit hole, it becomes very
apparent that all of these people had at least a
clue what was going on, and frankly, they didn't care.
All Right, folks, that's gonna do it for this morning's update.
(25:25):
As usual, on the way some context episodes. Then I
will be back later on tonight. If you'd like to
contact me, you can do that at Bobby Kapuchi at
ProtonMail dot com. That's Bo bbu Y c ap U
c CI at ProtonMail dot com. The article that we
discussed can be found in the description box. All right, everybody,
(25:48):
I'll be back later on tonight and we will pick
up where we left off. Have a great morning.
What's up, everyone, and welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles.
We've been talking about the financial portion of the Jeffrey
Epstein criminal enterprise for quite some time here on the podcast,
and I think it's one of the most underreported and
least talked about portions of this case, which is very
(00:23):
odd to me considering we all know that it's the
financial ties that bind. We all know that if you
follow the money, eventually you're going to find a criminal.
But the government, even after Jeffrey Epstein's death and arrest,
they didn't seem to have any desire to follow the money.
They didn't seem to have any desire to bring in
(00:45):
the proper people to go through this stuff forensically and
figure out what the hell went on here, because Jeffrey
Epstein was manipulating the system at every turn, whether it
be with his offshore money spots, whether it be with
business deals or fake charities, even like we're going to
(01:06):
talk about today, you name it, Jeffrey Epstein was involved
in it. When it comes to financial ill gotten gains
and financial misdeeds, Jeffrey Epstein was involved in all of it.
And it's something that doesn't get enough talk because I'll
tell you what. If these investigators were really serious about
(01:28):
all of this, and they were really serious about bringing
the remnants of Jeffrey Epstein's criminal enterprise under heel, they'd
slap a Rico charge on all of these people and
then they dive into their financials with a fine tooth comb.
And until we see that happening, then I have to say,
we're never getting the full look at what went on here.
(01:50):
We're only getting little pieces, right, a little look in
the room maybe. Whereas we all know, Glen Maxwell is
a disgusting excuse for a human being. She is not
the only one involved here. She was the underbossed right,
the Epstein's right hand woman, But she wasn't the only
one involved. She certainly wasn't involved in the financial angle
(02:13):
like Indyke or Khan or some of these other people.
So what I would like to see probably never going
to see it. But what I would like to see
is a nice fat rico case all of these people
caught up. Anybody who ever had money transferred to them
by Jeffrey Epstein has to have a look because we
(02:34):
know that all of his money originated from a dark place, right,
ill gotten gains So if you're receiving ill gotten gains
from somebody who is caught up in a RICO case,
well now you are a target in that RICO case
as well. And that's how RICO works, and that's why
everybody's so terrified of it. I've seen it firsthand. I've
(02:55):
seen RICO apply to people I care about firsthand and
seen how it ruined them over illegal sports gambling. By
the way, Meanwhile, you have Jeffrey Epstein and his friends
opening up banks all kinds of crazy shit and no penalties.
Nobody's going to jail. His banker doesn't go to jail,
his lawyer doesn't go to jail, his accountant doesn't go
(03:17):
to jail. And you wonder why people have no faith
in the system or in these institutions. All right, Today,
our article is from the New York Times and the
headline of this article is Jeffrey Epstein's charity an image
boost built on deception. This article was authored by Steve
(03:39):
Etter and Matthew Goldstein. Now we reached back into the
vault for this one, folks. This is an article from
November twenty sixth of twenty nineteen, and considering there's a
bit of a lull today as far as new news,
I thought we'd slide this one in and keep things
rolling on the financial track. Jeffrey Epstein's foundation looked for
(04:03):
all the world like a charitable powerhouse. On its websites
and then its press releases, the foundation was described as
a patron of hospitals, universities, and film festivals run by
a global philanthropist. And this is what's so galling right.
Everybody knew what this guy was up to. All of
the scumbags in his atmosphere knew what do you think
(04:25):
they sat around and his hubris didn't have him acting
in a brazen manner telling these people what he was about,
maybe not directly, but hinting at it. And then if
you're one of these people hanging out with them all
the time, you mean to tell me you never had
any questions why he's there without any I mean, with
these young girls, where are their parents, his niece or
(04:46):
his nephew or anything like that. He just happens to
have all of these young girls around and nobody has
any questions for him. The organization, known by various names,
but usually called the Jay Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation, wasn't
officially a charity for much of its existence, having lost
its taxes that tax exempt status in two thousand and eight,
(05:10):
but it worked to his advantage, helping improve the reputation
of mister Epstein, a convicted sex offender. And remember that's
what it was all about. After his arrest, Epstein went
on the full court press trying to refurbish his reputation.
He wanted to come back into civil society. He wanted
to make his comeback, and he was convinced that it
(05:30):
was going to be able to happen if these sort
of people would help him refurbish his disgusting and beat
up reputation. And the sad part is, folks, a lot
of these so called elites, a lot of these scumbags
that are out there crowing about this or that they
let him do it. There's no investigations, no Irs agents
(05:53):
dispatched to go and talk to him, just left up
to his own devices, to the perils of everybody else.
A review of tax documents, government records, and information provided
by federal officials shows that the foundation lost its tax
exempt status for an unknown reason. In the same year
(06:15):
mister Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor
and unknown reason. Huh oh, I'm sure it had everything
to do with him not being involved with abusing kids, right,
it's absurd. We all know what the reason is. But
the crazy part is all of these people knew behind
the scenes what was going on, and nobody acted. None
(06:39):
of these law enforcement officials, none of these officials down
in the Virgin Islands who knew what was going on.
Nobody all because they were too busy stuffing their pockets
full of Jeffrey Epstein's disgusting ass, gross ill gotten money.
In the years between that case and to suicide in August,
(07:00):
as he faced federal sex trafficking charges, mister Epstein was
unshackled from the rigorous financial disclosures that charities are supposed
to file every year with the government, allowing him to
exaggerate his philanthropy as he sought to rebuild his reputation.
The foundation's portrayals of its giving ranged from simple embellishment
to staggering overstatement that means lying. Okay, let's just be
(07:24):
very real with what it means. Epstein and his team
they were forging everything. They were if there were anything
besides sick disgusting, twisted wanna be human beings. They were
all liars as well. They sure had a huge idea
about who they were, and it certainly didn't match up
with reality. One of mister Epstein's websites said the Foundation
(07:49):
had helped to underwrite the Tribeca Film Festival festival, when
in fact it had donated twenty eight thousand dollars to
a related organization that offers grants to filmmakers and educational
programming to students in New York City. So that's definitely
always been a trademark of Epstein. He's always been one
of those guys who likes to exaggerate about things. That's
(08:12):
why you always have to take what he says with
a grain of salt. Right when you hear quotes from Epstein,
you know, it's very difficult to take him at face value.
The foundation sent out news releases touting donations to the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology to restore Mark rothcomburals and teach
(08:33):
coding to five year olds, claims that officials at the
school later called inaccurate. Oh, I'm sure they were inaccurate. Again, Look,
I don't trust MIT either, considering their relationship with Epstein
and the way they're trying to foster their image now
and fix their image after it was revealed how deep
their ties were with Epstein. Of course they're going to
be in cover your ass mode as well. Oh well,
(08:55):
we had no idea what was going on here. That's inaccurate.
That never happened. It also issued a statement in twenty
thirteen saying researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital had made a
major advance in breast cancer research with the backing of
mister Epstein, although the health system's own release makes no
mention of him. I mean stolen valor wearing the Navy
(09:18):
seal shit, acting like he's, you know, a big wig
here helping out people with breast cancer, which I take
umbrage with considering the love of my life battled through
Stage two B breast cancer a few years ago, and
it was one of the most grueling, rigorous eighteen months
of my I can't even can't even explain how rigorous
the eighteen months was. It was very, very difficult watching
(09:42):
somebody I care about and love more than the world
suffer like that and not be able to do anything
but provide emotional and mental support, wake up every day,
take her to the doctor, chemotherapy, then onto radiation, then
after that still back and forth to the doctors for
a while. It is all bad and I don't wish
(10:03):
that on nobody. And anybody acting like they're involved in
that and helping people who are going through that and
they're really not well, they certainly make my list of
top scumbags, folks, because that is not something to joke
around with. It's not something to make pretendre helping out
with if you're not, because it's serious business. People's lives
(10:23):
are shattered when they're sitting in that hospital room and
they get that diagnosis. I'm sorry to tell you you
have cancer. Let me tell you what. Everything changes that day, folks,
Every single thing changes, And it certainly was the case
for me. So when I see people out here acting like,
you know, they're helping people with cancer and then pulling
a pump fake and shit, it really really bothers me.
(10:47):
But the most glaring exaggeration appeared on Wikipedia. A username
apparently connected to mister Epstein edited the page for the
foundation and put its annual outlay at two hundred million
dollars a year, just under the amount the Facebook founder
Mark Zuckerberg contributed to charity in two thousand and eighteen.
(11:07):
Now we know Epstein wasn't dumping that kind to go
into any kind of charity. Zero chance that money was
more better used for his criminal enterprise. In reality, the
foundation was worth a small fraction of that amount. According
to documents obtained by The New York Times through a
public records lawsuit in the Virgin Islands, eighteen years of
(11:31):
financial statements showed that just under twenty million dollars flowed
into the foundation since it was founded in two thousand,
a lot less than the two hundred million. Huh. Again,
you see what I'm talking about with these scumbags. They'll
even use this their charity. They'll wrap themselves in this
charity stuff and use it as a shield as armor.
And I really really detest it. It's really gross. It's
(11:54):
there's not enough words to really explain the grossness. Roughly
sixteen point six million was spent on donations in grants,
most of the rest paid unspecified general and administrative expenses,
and one and a half million dollars in interest for
what appears to be an undisclosed debt. Oh an undisclosed debt? Huh?
(12:16):
I wonder, I wonder which scumbag was getting that junk
of change. Which scumbag had their hands in that pie.
The documents which were filed with the Virgin Islands Division
of Corporations and Trademarks do not offer details about where
the money came from or ended up. That information would
be contained in the public document Form nine ninety that
(12:37):
charities are required to file each year with the Internal
Revenue Service. But there is just one publicly available Form
nine ninety from the Foundation, a single page filing in
two thousand and two, and it does not include any
information on grants or donations. So you see, here's my
big problem. All right, you have all of these government
(12:59):
officials and all of these these people who are now
talking about how these financial crimes occurred and how the
system was manipulated. Meanwhile, this guy wasn't even filing the
right paperwork, wasn't following any of the Finsen regulations, and
nothing happened to him. There was never an investigation, there
(13:19):
was never a raid, nobody was arrested. In fact, he
was hooked up in the Virgin Islands. And this is
why I say the Virgin Islands should not see one
single dollar. They're the ones who let all of this
happen down there, all right, so they shouldn't just be
let off the hook. The officials down there. Nobody's going
to get arrested, none of that until that happens. I
(13:39):
don't want to hear about the Virgin Islands thinks they
should have some of this money because all of this
shit happened on all of their watch and nobody wanted
to do anything about it until the wall started to
fall down. Mister Epstein's website portrayed the Foundation as an
organization with high standards and high aspirations for changing the world.
(14:00):
I mean, yeah, you know, definitely what it was a
definitely an organization with high standards. If high standards to
you mean no standards whatsoever. A page from one site
described a multi stage grant process that asked applicants to
describe how their project was innovative, the pressing need it
(14:22):
would address, and an explanation of how they would evaluate
their results. The page from twenty ten also said it
was vital to understand that the Foundation and another run
by mister Epstein were not piggybanks. No, they were away
for Epstein to get his claws into some of these
scientists or some of these projects, and then that way
he can do what he wished with the information, sell
(14:44):
it onto his handler or whatever it is. That was
the whole goal for Epstein. But that was the term
that Martin Shield, a retired supervisory special Agent with the
Criminal Investigation's Division of the IRS, used to describe the Foundation.
Its lack of disclosures, he said, could be an overt
(15:06):
act of concealment. Oh, it could be. Huh so, where's
the IRS kicking in the doors. Where's the IRS sending
in all of the agents? Oh, they only do that
if it's you. Guess what tax days coming, folks, You
better make sure yours are filed. It's not clear if
such misrepresentations amounted to a crime. False statements meant to
fraudently solicit donations are illegal and generally prosecuted by state
(15:30):
attorneys general. Yeah, when they're not in the pocket of
the accused, when they're not you know, dipping their hands
into the trough. Yeah, then then you might have some indictments.
But Jeffrey Epstein, no way. The DUDO was protected obviously
wherever he went and was able to initiate these sorts
of schemes, scams and plots, and nobody wanted to do
(15:51):
anything about it. The New York State Attorney General's Office
began inquiring in twenty fifteen whether the foundation, which said
on one of its sites that had had offices in
Manhattan and the Virgin Islands, needed to register as a
charity in New York. Mister Epstein's longtime lawyer, Darren Endyke,
replied that the site was inaccurate and that the foundation
(16:14):
was operated out of an office in Saint Thomas. So
they can't even get their act together as far as
where business is being conducted in this company right, oh,
to Virgin Islands or to New York. And then the
regulators are just like, oh, okay, whatever you say, mister Epstein,
instead of really digging in like they usually do. Eh,
(16:34):
we'll move on to an easier target, lower hanging fruit,
if you will. Mister Dyke, who is one of two
executors of mister Epstein's estate, did not respond to messages
seeking comment. Before regulators closed their inquiry, mister Endyke provided
them with a copy of a letter the foundation received
from the IRS in two thousand verifying its status as
(16:57):
a charitable tax exempt organization. Oh, I'm su sure Jeffrey
Epstein's getting passports from Saudi Arabia and other countries. You
really think he's gonna have a problem pulling some levers
here to get tax exempt status. But he never disclosed
that the agency had dropped the foundation from its official
(17:17):
role of tax exempt organizations. The foundation was set up
as part of mister Epstein's participation in a lucrative program
in the Virgin Islands that offered big tax breaks to
his businesses, Financial Trust in Southern Trust in return for
philanthropic commitment to charities in the territory. And you see
where the whole asked for the money comes in now
(17:39):
down in the Virgin Islands. But again, these officials are
the ones that put Jeffrey Epstein into business, right, they
let him set up shop down there. They're the ones
that should have been regulating this, going over it with
a fine tooth comb, but instead they set it all up.
Then they turn around and then they want to play
the fool and act like they had no idea. Sorry,
that doesn't work. One of mister Epstein's sales pitchs to
(18:05):
his wealthy clients was offering tax advantage strategies that sometimes
included charitable giving. Reports from the agency that approved the
tax incentives show the foundation made more than one point
eight million dollars in donations to charities, educational scholarships and
symposiums there In an emailed statement, the Virgin Islands Economic
(18:26):
Development Authority said the foundation was established primarily for the
purpose of making charitable contributions to the Virgin Islands community.
Well one point eight million dollars in donations, all right,
but public records show it also carried out some unusual transactions.
Of course it did. He wasn't being regulated or monitored.
He throws one point eight million dollars towards the Virgin
(18:48):
Island Economic Development Authority. They look the other way. You
guys all know how this game is played. I don't
need to explain this to you. You've all been seeing
this for how many years now. In two thousand and
eight seventeen, the foundation, also known as Enhanced Education, cut
a check for one hundred and sixty thousand dollars to
pay fines mister Epstein incurred for permanent violations on his
(19:12):
private islands. Its funds also backed the causes of political
officials in the Virgin Islands, including up to thirty thousand
dollars to support a computer giveaway by an elected official.
The foundation has also contributed tens of thousands of dollars
to other groups, including the territory's Chamber of Commerce. So
you see, they've already gotten their cut the Virgin Islands.
(19:34):
And this is why I'm so adamant about them not
getting any more of this money, especially considering we see
how a lot of these survivors got lowballed. One hundred
and twenty five million, one hundred and thirty five million
going out to the survivors a mere one sixth of
Jeffrey Epstein's fortune, and the Virgin Islands, with all of
this in mind, still thinks they're entitled to a little piece.
(19:55):
Federal investigators have taken an interest in the foundation. In August,
the FBI contacted the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and
Natural Resources about the payment to resolve the permit violations.
Agents asked whether the department had a policy prohibiting a
charitable foundation from paying the penalty, said Jamal Nielsen, a
spokesman for the department. He said the contribution did not
(20:18):
violate any department rules. Oh of course it didn't. You know.
It never violates any rules when they're the ones benefiting
from it, does it. The FBI in New York declined
to comment, citing an ongoing investigation. It's not clear how
the foundation lost its tax exempt status. It could have
given it up, or it may have been taken away
(20:39):
after an IRS investigation. Eric L. Smith, a spokesman for
the IRS, said the agency could not comment, citing federal
privacy laws. That's another thing the government likes to do.
Right up, there's an investigation right now. We can't give
you any information. The IRS can also revoke tax exempts
(21:00):
status if a foundation fails to file a Form nine
ninety for three consecutive years, although that rule took effect
in twenty ten. Stephen T. Miller, a former acting IRS
Commissioner and now the national director of tax at Alliance Group,
said Form nine nineties are vital both for regulators and
(21:20):
the general public to understand the finances of a given entity.
Zero chance we were ever going to get a look
behind the curtain at Jeffrey Epstein's finances. This guy was
not a genius, like everybody says, but the dude certainly
was good at hiding money and manipulating the financial sector,
especially considering all of the people he had dispersed throughout
(21:42):
it to help him out. The scant filings by mister
Epstein's foundation, he said, showed a lack of transparency, and
over the years, mister Epstein operated at least three other charities,
including one based in the Virgin Islands. Mister Endyke's lawyer
long served at as an officer for mister Epstein's charities
and other businesses. Again, Darren and Dyke's name all over
(22:05):
the place. No indictment, no deposition, no self responsibility. Two
of mister Epstein's foundations relied on wealthy business titans to
provide millions in seed capital. His co UQ Foundation received
about twenty one million in stock and cash from charities
(22:26):
of Leslie H. Wexner, the billionaire retail magnate whose company
owns Victoria's Secret. Mister Epstein's Gratitude America Foundation received ten
million dollars in donations in twenty fifteen from a company
tied to the private equity billionaire Leon D. Black. And
you see what I mean, by folks, Why I call
this such a sham. All of these guys are donating
(22:48):
to these sham ass foundations and this turns into ill
gotten gains. And this is a RICO case right here,
right here, in front of us. And believe me, I'm
certainly no FBI agent or agent or Treasury Department official.
But come on, if you're going to slap people with
RICO over illegal gambling or wire fraud, you mean to
(23:08):
tell me this doesn't deserve at least a full on investigation,
a full on look. Mister Epstein's other foundations complied with
federal disclosure rules, making his namesake foundation the outlier. It
doesn't pass the smell test, said mister Shield, the retired
IRS special Agent. After his two thousand and eight conviction,
(23:31):
mister Epstein took great pains to burnish his reputation, and
the foundation played a key role, and so did all
of those enablers that were around him that we talk
about all the time. In twenty thirteen, a Wikipedia user
named Turville made a number of changes to the page
for the foundation. The changes including saying he found the
foundation had given more than two hundred million dollars to
(23:53):
a long list of notable scientists since its inception, then
raised its claim further by disc describing that sum as
its approximate annual outlay, So basically just lying about things.
This person went on Wikipedia and just started changing the
Wikipedia page to all sorts of fanciful whismical bs. The
(24:15):
user's name connection to mister Epstein is evident from information
he disclosed in New Mexico as a result of his
two thousand and eight conviction. He provided a list of
online user names, including those used by third party reputation
management services he hired. On that list was a Wikipedia
handle Turville that does not appear anywhere on the website,
(24:38):
but the similar name Turville does, and that user had
a particular focus on editing articles about mister Epstein. So
you see how this works, right, Epstein out there trying
to foster his image, then hits the Internet to do
a quick sweep to make sure everything lines up. Meanwhile,
the irs, the government, nobody's the wives or huh, nobody
(25:02):
has any idea what's going on. As we continue to
dive deeper into this disgusting rabbit hole, it becomes very
apparent that all of these people had at least a
clue what was going on, and frankly, they didn't care.
All Right, folks, that's gonna do it for this morning's update.
(25:25):
As usual, on the way some context episodes. Then I
will be back later on tonight. If you'd like to
contact me, you can do that at Bobby Kapuchi at
ProtonMail dot com. That's Bo bbu Y c ap U
c CI at ProtonMail dot com. The article that we
discussed can be found in the description box. All right, everybody,
(25:48):
I'll be back later on tonight and we will pick
up where we left off. Have a great morning.
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