Latvian Television reports on another Epstein connection / Article

Their acquaintance began through a prestigious university, where Epstein’s donations and visits to faculty later caused scandals and resignations. However, the now published email correspondence shows that Virza later discussed business opportunities in the cryptocurrency field with Epstein.

Epstein also introduced Virza to the influential right-wing ideologue Steve Bannon, who at that time was active in Europe advising populist parties, De Facto said.

About 15 years ago, young Latvian computer science talent Madars Virza went to the United States to study for a master’s degree at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Virza told the weekly news magazine “Ir” at the time that he wanted to focus on cryptography.

After graduating, Virza became a researcher at the MIT Media Lab, a research lab run in the 1990s by Japanese-born scientist and entrepreneur Joichi (or Joey) Ito. Ito had known Jeffrey Epstein since 2013.

Ito initially had doubts about Epstein’s reputation, as some lab staff immediately pointed out that although he posed as a generous philanthropist, the MIT Media Lab should not be associated with him, citing publicly available information about his status as a registered sex offender. However, after Epstein began donating to MIT, Ito told staff that, despite his past, the financier was a smart and interesting person, so they should view him with an open mind.

Ito only stepped down as director of the MIT Media Lab in the fall of 2019, shortly after Epstein committed suicide in his prison cell. Prior to that, Ito had apologized in a public statement for his ties to Epstein and admitted that he had invited him to MIT and had visited several of the financier’s residencies, as well as accepting his donations to the university and investments in his private funds.

Epstein was virtually introduced to Madars Virza by another MIT student back in 2015: Virza was said to be one of the most prominent cryptographers and was working on a cryptocurrency project. 

However, the first in-person meeting between the two seems to have taken place in April 2017. As can be deduced from the Epstein files, Ito, along with other scientists, organized a meeting at the MIT Media Lab over a weekend – one of several such meetings listed in Epstein’s itineraries.

The Epstein files show that Virza’s contacts with Epstein were not limited to conversations alongside other scientists. The two corresponded regularly between 2017 and 2019. Epstein, for example, engaged tax consultants to help Virza with advice.

In March 2018, Epstein brought a new friend, Steve Bannon, to a meeting with representatives of the Cambridge, Massachusetts scientific and academic community. Epstein’s email correspondence and published photographs show that the meeting participants included Martin Novak, a professor of biology and mathematics at Harvard University, former Harvard University president and former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, Joey Ito, and also Madars Virza. 

The night before, Virza had sent Epstein an email addressed to “Steve.” It contained a list of Catholic churches in the Boston area that might have good Palm Sunday Masses. Epstein forwarded it to Bannon with the explanation that the letter was from a “coin guy.” 

On Sunday evening after the meeting, Epstein also “introduced” Bannon and Virza virtually via email, greeting both of them as students at a school of the right or the wrong, under whose roof students could exchange knowledge “tax-free”. Virza apparently liked this metaphor. “Thank you, Jeffrey! This Sunday was magical, and I would be very interested in being at this school!” the Latvian wrote. 

An exchange of emails to arrange a meeting in May 2018 appears to contain a joke by Virza about Epstein’s notoriety in the British press.

Virza’s interest in the Catholic church proved a point of contact again, a few months later, when in October 2018, Virza wrote to Epstein about Bannon’s efforts to influence then-Pope Francis and move the Catholic church to the right.

Virza also answered Epstein’s questions about how various cryptocurrency innovations worked around this time.

The files suggest Virza visited Epstein at his New York home in 2019, afterwards describing him as “a torrent of positive energy.”

He also notes in the correspondence that he had sent gifts to Epstein, including books and “one card about an hour of eucharistic adoration I offered for Jeffrey.”

Madars Virza has clearly not lost his connection with Latvia, as he was included in the Boston precinct election commission in the US city of Boston in the last Saeima elections. However, Virza did not respond to De Facto’s letters and text messages requesting comment on the nature of his relationship with Epstein.

However, it should be noted that whatever the nature of his correspondence and meetings with Epstein and his associates, there is no suggestion that Virza has any connection to Epstein’s appalling criminal activities.

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