Largest US Bank Reaches Agreement with Epstein Victims After Embarrassing Revelations
After a sustained drip of public revelations threatened to pockmark its image, JPMorgan Chase Bank is settling a lawsuit with the victims of sex trafficker Jeffery Epstein.
An alleged Epstein victim who is known in court papers as Jane Doe sued the nation’s largest bank last year, alleging that it enabled Epstein’s sex trafficking operation by serving his bank, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“The parties believe this settlement is in the best interests of all parties, especially the survivors who were the victims of Epstein’s terrible abuse,” a joint statement from the bank and lawyers representing Epstein’s victims said, according to NBC.
A report in The New York Times said the number of victims involved in the settlement could top 100. The Times report, citing sources it did not name, said the settlement is expected to top $290 million.
“Any association with him was a mistake and we regret it. We would never have continued to do business with him if we believed he was using our bank in any way to help commit heinous crimes,” JPMorgan Chase said in a statement, according to NBC.
Lawyers said the settlement was a victory that sent a message, the Times report said.
“It has taken a long time, too long, but today is a great day for Jeffrey Epstein survivors,” attorney David Boies said.
Sigrid McCawley, who was among the lawyers representing the victims, said that the settlement should “signal that financial institutions have an important role to play in spotting and shutting down sex trafficking.”
Despite the settlement, the bank is not out of the woods. A separate, but similar, lawsuit against the bank was filed by the government of the Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned an island.
A spokesman for the U.S. Virgin Islands attorney general said the territory “will continue to proceed with its enforcement action to ensure full accountability for JPMorgan’s violations of law and prevent the bank from assisting and profiting from human trafficking in the future,” according to NBC.
As part of that, it filed new court documents from as far back as 2008 that show JPMorgan employees warned against having Epstein as a customer, according to the Times.
Among the documents was a 2011 email from Stephen Cutler, the bank’s general counsel, that read, “This is not an honorable person in any way. He should not be a client.”
The bank is pushing back against the lawsuits and also suing former JPMorgan Chase executive Jes Staley, who the bank now claims did not inform officials of the dubious nature of Epstein’s enterprises.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Staley has claimed he kept CEO Jamie Dimon fully informed about Epstein.
Staley said that Dimon was in touch when Epstein was arrested in 2006 on sex-related charges and in 2008 when Epstein pleaded guilty and became a registered sex offender. From then through 2012, Staley claimed, Dimon communicated with him off and on about Epstein. Dimon denies the claims.
The Virgin Islands lawsuit delved into what it called Epstein’s “close personal relationship” with Staley.
“Between 2008 and 2012, Staley exchanged approximately 1,200 emails with Epstein from his JP Morgan email account. These communications show a close personal relationship and ‘profound’ friendship between the two men and even suggest that Staley may have been involved in Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit noted that on two separate occasions when Staley visited Epstein properties, “a woman with an Eastern European surname” was wired money by Epstein.
In July 2010, according to the lawsuit, Staley “sent an email to Epstein, saying: ‘Maybe they’re tracking u? That was fun. Say hi to Snow White.’ Epstein responded: ‘[W]hat character would you like next?’ When Staley said, ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ Epstein replied: ‘well one side is available.’”
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