Jeffrey Epstein’s Haitian Connections

For nearly a month, AyiboPost examined the Epstein archives. They reveal the sexual predator’s relationship with Haiti and its philanthropists

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Cited more than 600 times in the Epstein files, Haitian-born businessman and philanthropist Unik Ernest appears as a key figure in the connections between Haiti and the sex offender who died in prison in 2019.

U.S. justice archives related to the case, reviewed by AyiboPost, reveal private meetings between Unik Ernest and the sexual predator, funding provided by Epstein for the construction of a school in the Bel-Air neighborhood of Haiti, private parties, and shared attendance at other social events.

Based on email exchanges and millions of other documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice, AyiboPost retraces the nature and scope of the relationships between Epstein and Unik Ernest, as well as those involving other influential figures connected to Haiti between 2011 and 2016.

In general, philanthropic organizations avoid associating with individuals convicted of criminal offenses, especially sexual crimes.

This is a particularly sensitive issue in Haiti after several foreigners were convicted of sexually abusing children in the country.

Last year, for example, Michael Karl Geilenfeld, the owner of an orphanage in Haiti mentioned in the Epstein archives, was sentenced to 210 years in prison in the United States for sexually abusing Haitian children between 2005 and 2010.

The exchanges reviewed by AyiboPost — involving at least half a dozen organizations — took place while Jeffrey Epstein had already been convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution and was registered as a sex offender in the United States.

These exchanges include, among other things, requests to Jeffrey Epstein for funding, educational materials, medical supplies, and support for humanitarian trips intended for families and communities affected by natural disasters in Haiti.

A first group of emails dated between 2011 and 2012 recounts a “significant contribution” granted by the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation to Unik Ernest, through his organization EDEYO, present in Haiti, for the reconstruction of a school for children in Bel-Air that had been destroyed by the 2010 earthquake.

A press release from the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation, dated 2011 and attached to the email reviewed, reveals that the sex trafficker’s foundation was among the organizations that had supported the EDEYO Foundation over the previous five years.

An article by the American news outlet Associated Press reports that two American organizations, along with EDEYO, had to return funds received from Jeffrey Epstein after discovering, according to officials quoted by the outlet, that a sex offender was behind the donations.

According to the American outlet, these funds were granted during the decade following Epstein’s conviction, during which he allegedly exploited more than a thousand women and teenage girls through his network.

Email exchanges between Epstein and Unik Ernest in 2012 uncovered by AyiboPost reveal a request by Ernest to erase traces of the funding granted to EDEYO, seven months after another email indicated that the funds had indeed been transferred.

“This is not a responsible thing to do especially when I’ve made clear to Jeff that the board have suggested that we don’t use this funds,” Unik Ernest wrote to Jeffrey Epstein after the publication of an announcement by the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation stating that funding had been provided for the construction of “the largest [school] in Haiti.”

To this, Epstein replied: “ive asked the service to remove. you should check whether the funds were cashed if so you should return the money so this does not appear again on the public records.”

AyiboPost sent a request for comment to Unik Ernest via a contact form available on his website.

This article will be updated if he responds.

The documents reviewed reveal that other personalities and charitable organizations, such as Urban Zen and the Technical Training Center for the Advancement of Youth of the Southeast (CEFOTAJ), also approached Epstein seeking funds after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti or after Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

Emails dating from 2013 show requests made to Epstein by controversial figures, including Kates Faith, co-founder of the modeling agency Next Models, in connection with charitable organizations working in Haiti, including AFYA.

Kate Faith quietly left Next Models following new revelations in the Epstein case in December 2025.

These organizations were contacted by AyiboPost. This article will be updated if they respond.

While the organizations mentioned above appear to have had occasional exchanges with Epstein’s foundation, the relationship between Epstein and Unik Ernest seems to have been more regular and to have gone beyond the context of natural disasters in Haiti.

Born in Haiti, Unik Ernest grew up in the United States, where he built a network of influence spanning business leaders, political figures, and the fashion world.

Archival photos from his website show him alongside personalities such as Elon Musk, Emmanuel Macron, Novak Djokovic, Kanye West, Wyclef Jean, Rihanna, and Kylie Jenner.

Email exchanges also reveal shared friendships between Unik Ernest and Jeffrey Epstein with political figures from West Africa, particularly in Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea.

His biography indicates that he contributed to organizing prestigious events through his company, Unik Ernest Group, including the Grammy Awards, the World Cup, the Super Bowl, as well as various other high-profile gatherings around the world.

In Haiti, Unik Ernest is primarily associated with the creation, in 2007, of the EDEYO Foundation in the Bel-Air neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, together with his childhood friend Michael Pradieu.

The more than 300 documents reviewed by AyiboPost (emails, FBI memos, court files, photos, videos) establish no link between businessman Unik Ernest — as well as the other personalities and foundations mentioned — and the sex-trafficking activities involving Jeffrey Epstein. However, their relationship, which continued even after Epstein’s conviction and his registration as a sex offender, raises questions about the values promoted by these organizations in Haiti.

The first references to the relationship between Unik Ernest and Epstein in the files reviewed date back to 2011.

In September of that year, Epstein wrote to French modeling agency director Jean-Luc Brunel asking whether he knew a Black promoter in New York named Unik.

Brunel replied that he did, specifying that the promoter was from Haiti.

A central figure in the fashion industry, Jean-Luc Brunel — often described as someone who recruited victims for Jeffrey Epstein — was indicted for “rape of minors over the age of 15” and “sexual harassment” after his arrest in December 2020.

He was found hanged in his cell in February 2022 while awaiting trial.

In October 2011, an email forwarded by a person whose name was redacted to Jeffrey Epstein about Unik Ernest suggests that Ernest would need “possible dates for haiti in order to put a list of names together.

“He asked me where you were as he wants to say a big thank you for your generosity”, the email continued, addressing Jeffrey Epstein without further details.

Email exchanges from 2011 indicate that Jeffrey Epstein responded positively to a request to come to Haiti.

The email in question, dated July of the same year, refers to a personal and discreet one-day visit to Port-au-Prince, at the invitation of “the president,” whom the sender describes as “hilarious and realistic.”

It is unclear whether the email referred to President Michel Joseph Martelly, who was sanctioned by the United States in 2024 for drug trafficking.

The sender, whose name was redacted, also mentions the possibility of “parking
money” in Haiti despite “all crazy banking stuff,” and plans to “do this very quietly. leave from NYC, sometime in October. one night in portauprince.”

Four months later, an email sent to Unik Ernest from an associate of Epstein whose name is not mentioned indicates that Jeffrey Epstein wanted to know whether Ernest was still in Haiti and whether he could meet him there if he left New York on the morning of November 22.

To which Unik Ernest replied simply:
“I will be in Haiti from the 17th till the 20th.”

A response that the intermediary then forwarded to Epstein.

The exchanges reviewed by AyiboPost do not make it possible to determine whether Epstein’s visit to Haiti actually took place.

Other email exchanges dated January 17–30, 2012, between their respective assistants, Lesley Groff and Marisa Thrasher, suggest that Epstein was preparing to meet Unik on January 30.

“Haiti is the topic,” Epstein’s assistant replied when Thrasher asked for clarification about the purpose of the meeting so she could inform Unik Ernest.

The exchange does not mention any other specific details about the meeting.

But another email suggests that the two men had become accustomed to meeting to discuss Haiti.

Forwarding those previous messages to Jeffrey Epstein on January 30, 2012, a person whose name was not disclosed wrote:
“Do I tell her the agenda is the same as your past meetings with Unik? Please advise..?”

The following day, January 31, in correspondence forwarded to Jeffrey Epstein by an unnamed source, Unik Ernest thanked Epstein and his assistant Lesley for a study proposal and said he had chosen “ the business certificate program at NYU”.  Which he described as “the best fit for me right now.”

Documents reviewed suggest that other meetings took place between Unik Ernest and Jeffrey Epstein in 2012, sometimes on the same day Epstein planned to meet other influential figures.

For example, when he met filmmaker Woody Allen and billionaire Leon Black, CEO of Apollo, who was forced to resign five years after the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

Another set of emails highlights other influential foreign figures close to Epstein who were circulating around him in connection with Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.

In an email dated April 1, 2012, Epstein wrote to a person whose identity was redacted in the documents released publicly.

He wrote:
“I want to talk to Unik about the 18th. to haiti.”

It is unclear whether the “18th” refers to the charity gala organized by American actor and director Sean Penn on May 18, 2012, during the Cannes Film Festival.

The initiative was also supported by Czech model Petra Němcová through her charity Happy Hearts Fund, along with other internationally known figures, to benefit Haiti.

Named “honorary ambassador for Haiti” in 2012 by President Michel Martelly and Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, Petra Němcová later began a romantic relationship with Lamothe in 2013.

Emails sent in 2014 by Němcová requesting humanitarian grants for her organization connect her to a network of personalities very close to Jeffrey Epstein.

The May 18, 2012 gala hosted prominent figures including Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio and entertainment publicist Peggy Siegal.

In a May 17, 2012 email to Epstein, Siegal said she had given an “extra” $2,500 donation for Sean Penn’s Haiti dinner in order, she wrote, “go to private after party on Paul Allen’s small boat for 70 celebs. Excited”.

Other exchanges reveal that Epstein may have paid for a $5,000 ticket for Siegal to attend the gala.

A recent article in Variety magazine claims that Peggy Siegal, described as an “Oscars guru,” helped Epstein “reintegrate into high society” after he was released from prison following his 2009 conviction for soliciting sexual services from a minor.

The relationship between American financier Epstein and businessman Unik Ernest continued in 2014.

The documents analyzed made it possible to trace meetings in October and December 2014.

Exchanges dated October 25, 2015, relating to an invitation to a private event, highlight the closeness between Unik Ernest and Jeffrey Epstein.

“This is for a little event for the foundation tonight, tell Jeffrey it will be a lot of fun if he can come.” Unik Ernest wrote.

Arrested on July 6, 2019, Jeffrey Epstein was being held in pre-trial detention in New York while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to exploit underage girls.

He was found dead in his cell on August 10, 2019.

By : Wethzer Piercin  & Jérôme Wendy Norestyl