Florida Woman Pleads Guilty to $750,000 Epstein Fund Fraud

"The purpose of these actions was to obtain money, which gave me a sense of validation," Jennifer Percival told a magistrate judge at her Manhattan federal court guilty plea. Percival, 46, director of Florida Atlantic University's Center for Autism and Related Disabilities and a Boca Raton resident, admitted falsifying records to obtain $750,000 from a JPMorgan Chase-backed compensation fund for alleged victims of Jeffrey Epstein. The fund was created under a $290 million settlement over claims the bank enabled Epstein's abuse. She had applied in late 2020 to a separate Epstein estate fund, been rejected, then altered that rejection letter to appear as approval and claimed the estate fund paid her $500,000. The JPMorgan fund wired the $750,000 in 2024. When FBI agents confronted her in late 2025 with the true rejection letter, she said she had successfully appealed; she also gave altered and fabricated emails to her own lawyer for a deferred prosecution request. She brought a check for $776,031 in restitution to the hearing. "I know that my actions were wrongful, and I accept full responsibility," she said. Prosecutors did not say whether she was an Epstein victim. Sentencing guidelines recommend three to four years; no date is set and she was released pending sentencing.