Toronto Star
· collected 2026-09-17 · by Larry Neumeister The Associated Press
Jennifer Percival, a Florida woman and autism scholar, has pleaded guilty to defrauding a fund set up by JPMorgan Chase for victims of Jeffrey Epstein. In 2024, she falsely claimed to be eligible for compensation from Epstein’s estate fund and provided falsified documents to receive $750,000 from the bank’s settlement fund. During her court appearance on Monday, Percival admitted that her actions were meant to gain a sense of validation. She faces up to four years in prison according to federal sentencing guidelines but has not yet been sentenced.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-17,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Jennifer Percival, a 46-year-old Florida woman and scholar who has written books on autism, pleaded guilty in federal court in New York for fraudulently applying to a fund set up by Jeffrey Epstein’s estate to compensate victims. In 2020, she was paid $750,000 from the fund but prosecutors allege she falsified records to obtain this money. Percival also applied to another fund created by JPMorgan Chase, which agreed to pay $290 million to Epstein’s victims in a settlement of legal claims against the bank. Prosecutors stated that evidence would include search warrants and testimony from the administrator of two Epstein compensation funds, though they did not confirm whether she was an actual victim of Epstein's abuse. The case highlights ongoing issues with verifying legitimate claims by Epstein’s alleged victims amidst multiple financial settlements and compensation efforts.
Written for “Epstein Victim Fund Fraud” on 2026-09-17,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
A Florida woman who was paid $750,000 by a fund for people sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein has pleaded guilty to falsifying records she used in her application for the money.
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she → pay → money
Jennifer Percival, a scholar who has written books on autism, entered the plea in federal court in New York on Monday, the same day that she was charged in the case.
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she → write → case
A transcript of the proceeding was entered in the court record Wednesday.
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transcript → enter → record
During her brief court appearance, Percival didn’t speak about Epstein and prosecutors didn’t say whether they had reached a conclusion about whether she was, or wasn’t, one of his victims.
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she → speak → victims
Percival, 46, said she applied in late 2020 to a fund set up by Epstein’s estate to compensate his victims after he killed himself while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
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he → say → charges
That fund, however, decided she was ineligible for a payment.
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she → decide → payment
Court records didn’t say why she was turned down.
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she → say → ?
Then, in 2024, she applied for a share of a new fund created by JPMorgan Chase, which had agreed to pay $290 million to Epstein victims to settle legal claims that the bank should have cut him off as a customer after he was publicly accused of being a serial sexual abuser of underage girls.
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he → apply → girls
In support of that application, she falsely claimed the Epstein estate fund had found her eligible for compensation and paid her $500,000.
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her → claim → 500,000
She provided a copy of her rejection letter, but altered it to make it look like she had been approved.
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she → provide → it
“The purpose of these actions was to obtain money, which gave me a sense of validation,” she told a magistrate judge, according to the transcript of Monday’s court hearing.
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she → obtain → hearing
The bank’s compensation fund wired her $750,000 in 2024 based on her misstatements, but at some point the FBI began investigating.
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FBI → wire → point
When she was confronted by agents in late 2025 with the true and accurate rejection letter from the Epstein fund, she falsely said she had successfully appealed and was found eligible after all, Percival said.
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Percival → confront → fund
Then, she gave her own lawyer at the time altered and fabricated emails that were submitted to a federal prosecutor as part of a request for a deferred prosecution deal.
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that → give → deal
“I know that my actions were wrongful, and I accept full responsibility,” Percival said.
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Percival → know → responsibility
She brought a check to the plea hearing for the $776,031 she owes in restitution.
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she → bring → restitution
A sentencing date wasn’t immediately set.
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date → set → ?
Percival is the director of Florida Atlantic University’s Center for Autism and Related Disabilities and lives in Boca Raton.
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Percival → live → Raton
Messages sent to Percival, her lawyer, the autism center and media contacts for Florida Atlantic University were not immediately returned Wednesday.
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Messages → send → University
Neither court records nor anything said in open court make it explicitly clear why Percival claimed to have been entitled to Epstein settlement money.
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Percival → say → money
Federal sentencing guidelines call for her to spend from three to four years behind bars, according to the plea deal she signed with prosecutors, though a judge does not have to follow that recommendation.
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judge → call → recommendation
She was released from custody after the hearing while she awaits sentencing.
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she → release → sentencing
Her defense lawyer is likely to argue at sentencing that she has earned leniency through her life’s work helping people with disabilities.
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she → argue → disabilities
A university website listing described her as an “award-winning researcher in disability studies” and said she “participates on national and regional advisory boards.”
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she → describe → boards
A prosecutor said evidence that would have been introduced at trial would have included Percival’s bank records; search warrant returns for her email account, along with testimony by the administrator of two Epstein settlement funds.
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warrant → say → funds
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