Fiorenzo Omenetto, a professor in the biomedical engineering department, wrote to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after an associate of the financier put them in touch, according to the newest batch of files released by the Department of Justice on Friday. Omenetto told the Daily that he ended the interaction once he learned of Epstein's background.
Omenetto was initially introduced to Epstein by cybersecurity specialist Vincenzo Iozzo in a series of emails. In an email sent to Epstein on Aug. 9, 2014, Iozzo described his initial meeting with Omenetto at Science Foo Camp, an annual, invitation-only conference on emerging technology and research.
Epstein was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution in the state of Florida in 2008. The files involving Omenetto do not allege or imply any criminal conduct or association with Epstein’s crimes.
In a statement to the Daily, Omenetto denied ever meeting with Epstein.
“I never met or spoke with Jeffrey Epstein,” Omenetto wrote. “I had a brief email interaction with him after being copied on a communication between him and an acquaintance who had, on their own volition, made Epstein aware of my work. Once I looked into Epstein’s background and became aware of his history, I chose to forego any further interaction with him.”
Iozzo described Omenetto as a man with “a lovely kind of brilliance that I think you’d enjoy,” emphasizing that the professor was seeking funding for an incubator and needed assistance. At the time, Epstein ran a private foundation — the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation — dedicated to funding cutting-edge science, which lost its tax-exempt status several years prior.
At the end of the message, Iozzo asked if Epstein would consent to Omenetto’s “[flying] to NYC to meet [him],” to which Epstein responded the following day, “yes of [course].”
Later that year, on Dec. 1, Iozzo visited Omenetto’s lab at Tufts’ Medford/Somerville campus and invited Epstein to tour the facility with him. However, according to several exchanges, Epstein did not visit Tufts and Omenetto was not copied on Iozzo’s invitation to Epstein.
After Iozzo introduced Omenetto to Epstein in an email to both men, the professor replied, offering to meet. In the email, Omenetto wrote that he would be “so happy to meet any time” with Epstein in either Boston or New York City and that he was “looking forward to it very much.” The files currently available do not contain a direct response from Epstein to Omenetto.
In a separate correspondence with a third party, Epstein suggested meeting on Dec. 5 in New York City. However, Omenetto told an individual whose name was redacted that he was unavailable, according to a different exchange.
In January 2015, Lesley Groff, Epstein’s executive assistant, who has been accused of helping schedule massage appointments with both women and minors, suggested to Epstein that he meet with Omenetto at Harvard University on Jan. 4. The available files do not include a response from Epstein to Groff; however, according to Omenetto’s statement, this meeting never came to fruition.
Julian Glickman and Dylan Tanouye contributed reporting.
