Epstein Files: Notorious Pedophile Spent Hundreds at Spartanburg County Eyewear Shop

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by ANDY FANCHER

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In 2004, disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein spent nearly $1,000 at an over-the-counter eyewear shop in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, according to bank records released by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

That transaction appears in a digitized set of JPMorgan Chase records produced in response to a federal grand jury subpoena issued in August 2006. The subpoena sought roughly two-and-a-half years of billing statements tied to Epstein’s Mastercard Gold account.

Among those records is a single charge of $948.76 paid to FunSpecs, Inc., a now-defunct eyewear company that operated from a commercial strip on Metro Drive in Spartanburg, S.C.

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Website records preserved through the Internet Archive show FunSpecs presenting itself as a wholesale supplier of non-prescription readers for gift shops, bookstores and other specialty retailers. It branded itself in 2004 as “The Baby Boomer’s Choice.”

Those same records show FunSpecs specializing in brightly patterned reading glasses marketed primarily toward women, with some unisex options available. The company also sold customizable accessories, including eyeglass chains, religious charms and colorful cases.

An online order form preserved from the same month as Epstein’s purchase lists reading glasses starting at $21.50, with full-framed bifocal sunglasses priced at $23.50. The page specifies a $200 minimum order.

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Despite the availability of website records, neither the size of Epstein’s purchase nor how he came to find the Spartanburg-based business is clear. Billing statements produced in response to the 2006 subpoena show no additional charges to FunSpecs – or to any nearby merchants.

That ambiguity does not, however, apply to the fate of FunSpecs.

In July 2007, the company’s founder, Judith Mussel, 63, died of bone cancer at her home in Inman, S.C. Posthumous accounts described Mussel as an advocate for women’s causes and noted her involvement in fundraising efforts for a rape crisis center.

Her obituary requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to either the Cancer Society of Spartanburg or to St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Building Fund.

State records show FunSpecs was formally dissolved within the year.

Yet archived web records revealed that by January 2008, the website had been completely redesigned. The revised site featured a company history paying tribute to Mussel and stated that the brand had been “acquired” by Condar Company.

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Headquartered in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, Condar Company described itself in 2008 as a “manufacturing and marketing firm.” It now describes itself as a leading manufacturer of wood stove thermometers.

As for FunSpecs, archived snapshots of the website indicate the brand continued operating as an online storefront into 2019, when inventory was no longer listed as available.

Neither Mussel, Condar Company nor any immediately related entities appear in cursory searches of the Epstein files made publicly available by the DOJ.

Even so, FunSpecs was not the only eyewear-related charge to appear in Epstein’s billing records surrendered to federal authorities in 2006. Another reflects a markedly larger transaction tied to a Dallas-based optometry business with documented ties to Epstein.

That purchase occurred roughly two months before the Spartanburg transaction, when Epstein’s Mastercard account shows a flat $6,500 payment to Contact/Eyewear, a now-defunct optometry practice on Coit Road near Dallas Central Expressway.

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“THE STRONGEST LIFELONG FRIENDSHIP…”

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At the time of Epstein’s $6,500 purchase, Contact/Eyewear marketed itself online as a “truly unique eyecare–eyewear experience.” Images preserved through the Internet Archive show a boutique-style interior with yellow walls, checkerboard flooring and decorative neon lighting.

Behind the polished presentation was its owner, Dr. Warren Eisenstein, 61, a Brooklyn native who practiced optometry in North Texas until his death from cancer in 2014. One of his memorial services was held at the Jewish Community Center of Dallas.

A subsequent obituary stated that Eisenstein was survived by a circle of “lifelong friends and soulmates,” including Epstein, who by that time was a convicted sex offender accused of trafficking dozens of underage girls.

Eisenstein was demonstrably aware of the 2008 conviction that placed his friend on the sex offender registry. According to reporting by The Palm Beach Post, Eisenstein submitted glowing testimonials to Epstein’s defense team as the case moved toward resolution.

“Over the years, his genius has taken him to achieve levels of success unattainable by anyone I’ve ever met,” Eisenstein wrote at the time. “Our long-term, deep-seated friendship is the strongest lifelong friendship one could ever have.”

It would take more than a decade after Eisenstein’s death for the depth of his relationship with Epstein to draw sustained public attention. That reckoning came only after previously unseen photographs surfaced with the release of Epstein’s now-infamous 50th birthday book.

The 238-page scrapbook, compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003, contains a table of contents listing some contributors as Bill Clinton, Alan Dershowitz, Leslie Wexner and Donald Trump. The volume also includes crude notes, sexually explicit drawings and dozens of redacted photographs of women in various stages of undress.

A lesser-reported section, labeled “CHILDREN,” included multiple redacted images appearing to depict minors.

Interspersed throughout the scrapbook were photographs and handwritten notes involving Eisenstein spanning decades. One image showed Epstein, Eisenstein and two other men posed together wearing only watches and underwear.

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Dallas advertising executive Terry Kafka, who appeared between Eisenstein and Epstein in the photograph, later told a reporter with The Dallas Morning News the group was recreating an image from their childhood.

Whether Epstein’s relationship with Eisenstein extended into a legitimate $6,500 transaction remains unclear. Their documented personal ties, however, stand in stark contrast to the far thinner context surrounding the FunSpecs charge revealed through the 2006 subpoena.

A cursory review of the same billing records produced under that subpoena shows a wide array of other expenditures, including more than $4,000 paid to a playground equipment company, over $2,500 sent via Western Union, roughly $2,400 spent at an animal repellent retailer and nearly $250 charged to an online magic shop.

In addition to further purchases at ChristianBook.com and the Palm Beach Bookstore, the statements also reflect at least five transactions totaling more than $3,000 paid to Vietri, an Italian ceramics retailer based in Hillsborough, North Carolina.

Even then, these transactions barely merit attention. They pale against the final batch of Epstein-related records released under a congressional mandate, one hobbled by White House–level resistance, repeated delays and a perfunctory explanation for missing a statutory deadline.

Against that backdrop, the extensively redacted files still contain graphic allegations involving some of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful men, ranging from baby farming to child sexual abuse, child sex trafficking, ritualistic sacrifice, cannibalism and murder-for-hire.

While the vast majority of those allegations remain unproven and unadjudicated, journalists and independent researchers from across the globe continue to comb through more than 3.5 million pages of Epstein-related records made available by the DOJ.

As that work continues, South Carolina repeatedly emerges from those records.

Write to Andrew Fancher at andy@fitsnews.com.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Andrew Fancher is a Lone Star Emmy award-winning journalist from Dallas, Texas. Cut from a bloodline of outlaws and lawmen alike, he was the first of his family to graduate college which was accomplished with honors. Got a story idea or news tip for Andy? Email him directly and connect with him socially across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

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