Florida autism researcher Jennifer Percival has admitted falsifying records to fraudulently claim $750,000 from a victim compensation fund set up following the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
The 46-year-old university director from Boca Raton, Florida, faces between three and four years in federal prison after pleading guilty to document falsification, according to a report by The New York Times.
Federal prosecutors revealed that Percival fabricated an approval letter after her initial application for compensation was formally rejected. She appeared in court with a cashier's check for $776,031 to provide full restitution for the funds she unlawfully obtained.
Addressing the court during her plea hearing, Percival acknowledged her criminal conduct, saying she knew her actions were wrongful and that she accepted full responsibility for what she had done.
Forged rejection letter
The scheme originated in 2020 when Percival first sought money from the victims' compensation fund established using assets from Epstein's estate. The fund had been set up to review claims from survivors who were abused by the late financier, but administrators reviewing Percival's application rejected her claim.
Rather than accepting the denial, Percival altered the official rejection notice. She changed the wording of the document to make it appear as though fund administrators had approved her claim and awarded her a payout of $500,000.
She retained the forged paperwork until a subsequent legal agreement opened another avenue for funds. In 2023, Wall Street banking giant JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay $290 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit brought by Epstein's victims. The lawsuit accused the financial institution of facilitating Epstein's sex-trafficking operation by ignoring internal compliance warnings and managing his financial accounts over many years.
Percival submitted a fresh application to the newly created JPMorgan settlement fund, submitting the doctored approval letter as evidence that her status as an eligible claimant had already been validated. Relying on the falsified documents, the settlement administrators approved her claim, and the bank transferred $750,000 directly to her in 2024.
Federal Bureau of Investigation inquiry
The large payout eventually attracted the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which opened a criminal probe into the transaction. When federal agents interviewed Percival and presented her with the authentic 2020 rejection letter, she denied any wrongdoing.
Percival insisted to investigators that she had successfully appealed the original denial and secured legitimate approval. To support her claims, she fabricated an entire email exchange showing supposed correspondence with fund officials and handed the fake messages to her attorney to use during negotiations for a pre-trial agreement.
Federal authorities ultimately confirmed that the correspondence and the approval notice were entirely fabricated. In court, representatives for the prosecution did not specify whether Percival was ever an actual victim of Epstein.
Academic position and compensation programs
Percival is the director of the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities at Florida Atlantic University, a major public institution based in Boca Raton. In her academic role, she oversaw programs providing clinical training, public education, and support resources to individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders and their families across south Florida.
The restitution funds targeted by Percival were established to assist survivors of Epstein, the American financier and convicted sex offender who died in a Manhattan federal detention facility in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.
Following Epstein's death, administrators created an independent compensation program to allow victims to seek financial compensation confidentially, avoiding the need for public court battles. The subsequent $290 million settlement established by JPMorgan Chase was created to compensate dozens of survivors who alleged that the financial institution enabled Epstein's crimes by handling his multi-million-dollar accounts.
Percival now awaits sentencing, where she faces a term of between three and four years in federal prison following her guilty plea.
