Epstein’s charity largely built on deception

Jeffrey Epstein’s foundation looked for all the world like a charitable powerhouse: On its websites and in its news releases, the foundation was described as a patron of hospitals, universities and film festivals, run by a global philanthropist.

The organization — known by various names but usually called the J. Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation — wasn’t officially a charity for much of its existence, having lost its tax-exempt status in 2008.

But it worked to his advantage, helping improve the reputation of Epstein, a convicted sex offender.

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 Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor.

In the years between that case and his suicide in August as he faced federal sex-trafficking charges, 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.

One of Epstein’s websites said the foundation had “helped to underwrite” the Tribeca Film Festival, when in fact it had donated $28,000 to a related organization that offers grants to filmmakers and educational programming to students in New York City. The foundation sent out news releases touting donations to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to restore Mark Rothko murals and teach coding to 5-year-olds, claims that officials at the school later called inaccurate. It also issued a statement in 2013 saying researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital had made a major advance in breast cancer research with the backing of Epstein, although the health system’s own release makes no mention of him.

But the most glaring exaggeration appeared on Wikipedia. A user name apparently connected to Epstein edited the page for the foundation and put its annual outlay at $200 million a year — just under the amount Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg contributed to charity in 2018.

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 financial statements show that just under $20 million flowed into the foundation since it was founded in 2000. Roughly $16.6 million was spent on donations and grants; most of the rest paid unspecified “general and administrative” expenses and $1.5 million in interest for what appears to be an undisclosed debt.

Representatives of Epstein’s $577 million estate did not respond to messages seeking comment.