From COUQ to Carbyne: Tracing Epstein's Financial Pipeline to Israel

Jeffrey Epstein's philanthropic operation ran on three tracks. There was the public-facing work: donations to universities, science prizes, and cultural institutions designed to buy respectability. There was the strategic work: investments in technology companies and introductions to political figures designed to build leverage. And then there was a third track, visible only in the financial records and internal correspondence now released by the Department of Justice: a steady flow of money to Israeli organizations and causes that connected Epstein to the machinery of the Jewish state in ways that went well beyond casual philanthropy.

The Foundation

The C.O.U.Q. Foundation, Inc. was established by Epstein in 2001. According to federal tax filings compiled in the released documents, Epstein donated approximately $30 million between 1998 and 2018 through three charities: Epstein Interest, the COUQ Foundation, and Gratitude America Ltd. COUQ was the primary vehicle.

The foundation appears in 637 documents in the Epstein files. A FINRA arbitration record (EFTA00724436) shows COUQ and Epstein's Financial Trust Company jointly pursued claims against Bear Stearns over investment losses. A Kirkland and Ellis memorandum (EFTA00727403) prepared for Epstein's sex offender registry hearing described him as a "financial advisor and philanthropist" who ran COUQ to fund "medical, educational, and advanced scientific research."

But the checks tell a different story.

The Checks

On March 22, 2011, Epstein's financial manager Bella Klein emailed his assistant Lesley Groff about two pending payments (EFTA02337796):

"As you requested I made a check for 'YIVO Institute for Jewish Research' for $50,000 from COUQ and a check for $25,000 for 'Tribeca Film Institute' from Enhanced Education."

The YIVO Institute, founded in Vilna in 1925, is one of the preeminent centers for the study of Eastern European Jewish history and culture. Klein noted the check was designated "for EVA," suggesting it was connected to Eva Andersson-Dubin, the physician and former girlfriend of Epstein who maintained close ties to Jewish cultural organizations.

This was not an isolated donation. FBI documents and IRS filings show COUQ funded a constellation of Jewish and Israel-aligned organizations including the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces ($25,000 in 2005), the Jewish National Fund ($15,000 in 2006), Seeds of Peace, the Hillel Foundation, and the National Council of Jewish Women. The pattern is documented across multiple FBI summaries in the files (EFTA00176507, EFTA00284175).

The Athletes

On April 8, 2013, Eyal Tiberger of the Maccabi World Union forwarded a request to Epstein through Richard Kahn, Epstein's financial associate. Three days later, Epstein authorized a $60,000 wire transfer from his "enhanced" account to the organization (EFTA01898372). Kahn confirmed: "ok to wire 60k from enhanced."

Tiberger subsequently thanked Epstein for his "amazing generous contribution of $60,000 for sponsoring young Jewish athletes from distressed communities such as Lithuania" (EFTA00957740). He invited Epstein to the opening ceremony of the 2013 Maccabiah Games in Jerusalem as a VIP guest. The stated purpose was to strengthen "Jewish identity and heritage" and prepare athletes to become "ambassadors for the State of Israel."

This was a convicted sex offender being welcomed as a VIP patron at one of the largest international sporting events in the world, four years after his Florida conviction and registration as a sex offender. Tiberger's correspondence shows no hesitation.

The Startup

While COUQ channeled money to established Jewish organizations, a separate financial pipeline connected Epstein directly to Israeli security technology.

In December 2017, Ehud Barak forwarded Epstein a bridge financing agreement for Reporty Homeland Security Ltd., a company organized under the laws of the State of Israel (EFTA00927152). "Hi Jeff," Barak wrote. "Following our yesterday conversation with Amir. Best, EB." The attached documents, sent by Amir Elichai, Reporty's founder and CEO, included the old bridge financing agreement and a new one being finalized.

The convertible bridge financing agreement (EFTA00803322) stated that Reporty "requires an infusion of funds in order to continue to fund its on-going business activities" while seeking a larger equity round. Epstein's Southern Trust invested.

Reporty rebranded as Carbyne in 2018. The company developed emergency communications technology. Its board and staff included former Israeli intelligence and military personnel. In August 2017, Nicole Junkermann, a German-British investor, emailed Barak and Epstein questioning the company's valuation, asking what "apart from your own in house auditors" had led to the board resolution Barak signed (EFTA01038557). Epstein responded: "lets talk, is there a valuation range. where did it come from."

By February 2019, five months before Epstein's arrest, the correspondence between Epstein and Junkermann had turned tense over Carbyne warrants. Epstein wrote: "and no worry you keep your warrants. I'll give mine. simple. no further discussion needed." Junkermann replied: "Can we pls speak about it."

In a separate thread, Elichai pitched Carbyne's "911" emergency response technology to Qatar's Jabor Al Thani, with both Epstein and Barak copied (EFTA02628648). "I will be happy to follow up and take it from here," Elichai wrote after Barak provided the introduction.

Carbyne was sold to American technology firm Axon for $625 million in 2025. The company that Epstein helped finance through a convicted sex offender's offshore trust became one of the most valuable exits in Israeli security tech.

What It Means

The financial pipeline from Epstein to Israel operated on three levels. At the base, COUQ wrote checks to mainstream Jewish organizations, building goodwill and institutional relationships. In the middle, personal donations to events like the Maccabiah Games bought VIP access and social acceptance in Israeli cultural life. At the top, direct investment in Barak's surveillance company created a financial entanglement with the former prime minister of a nuclear-armed state.

The FBI source who provided the FD-1023 memo in October 2020 believed Epstein was "a co-opted Mossad Agent." Whether or not that is true, the financial record shows a man who spent decades building exactly the kind of relationships that an intelligence operation would require: institutional credibility, personal access to political leadership, and financial stakes in sensitive technology.

Source Documents

• EFTA00957740: Eyal Tiberger to Epstein: thank you for $60,000 Maccabiah donation for Lithuanian Jewish athletes
• EFTA01898372: Epstein authorizes $60,000 wire to Maccabi World Union via Richard Kahn
• EFTA02337796: Bella Klein to Epstein: $50,000 COUQ check to YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, $25,000 to Tribeca Film Institute
• EFTA00176507: FBI summary of COUQ donations to FIDF, JNF, Seeds of Peace, Hillel, National Council of Jewish Women
• EFTA00803322: Convertible Bridge Financing Agreement for Reporty Homeland Security Ltd. (Israel), 2017
• EFTA00927152: Ehud Barak to Epstein forwarding Reporty bridge financing documents from Amir Elichai
• EFTA01038557: Nicole Junkermann questioning Carbyne board valuation resolution to Barak and Epstein
• EFTA02628648: Amir Elichai to Jabor Al Thani (Qatar): Carbyne 911 presentation, cc'd Epstein and Barak

Profiles for Eyal Tiberger, Amir Elichai, and Ehud Barak are available in the Epstein Exposed database.