Jeffrey Epstein had many sides. He was a sex offender, friend of the rich and powerful, and for many years a lucrative customer of the country’s largest bank.
JPMorgan Chase Bank is now facing the liquidation of a nearly 15-year relationship with the disgraced financier, who alleged the bank ignored warnings that it was trafficking teenage girls for sex. The two civil lawsuits it asserts could pay out large sums of money. I was benefiting from my relationship with him.
New disclosures resulting from the incident suggest that bank employees repeatedly flagged Mr. Epstein’s activities as suspicious, while other documents show that Mr. This indicates that they were on good terms with them and had easy access to them. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a teenage girl in Florida.
The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Manhattan late last year, one by lawyers representing Epstein’s victims and the other by the U.S. Virgin Islands government, received dozens of complaints from victims. A deposition has been filed and is progressing rapidly, Virgin reported. Island officials and people who worked for banks and Mr. Epstein.
The process takes on new urgency on Friday as JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon is set to be fired at the bank’s Manhattan headquarters.
Epstein died three years ago in an apparent suicide while in federal custody on sex trafficking charges. JP Morgan dropped him as a client 10 years ago. Many of the documents and evidence presented in this case have been sealed.
One of the bank’s documents, in court filings last week, suggested JP Morgan employees had filed numerous Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) for some of Epstein’s transactions. are doing. The names of about 40 employees the bank said were “involved in reporting SARs related to Epstein accounts from 2000 to 2019” have been redacted.
Banks are required to file SARs with federal regulators if they suspect that a transaction may involve money laundering or fraud. Although the report may provide clues to the authorities, it is kept confidential as it may prove that the transaction was legal.
A JPMorgan spokeswoman said the bank knew nothing of Epstein’s involvement in sex trafficking. In filings related to the case, the bank also said it asked federal prosecutors in Florida in 2011 whether there was an active investigation into Epstein. The bank said prosecutors had not disclosed any investigation.
Separate caches of emails and some calendar entries reviewed by The New York Times show executives at the bank had some familiarity with Mr. Epstein.
In October 2011, Mr. Epstein wrote to Mary C. Erdős, current head of the bank’s large wealth and wealth management division, that he was “still waiting to hear from you.”
Eldeeth replied: It’s 1:00 am. I wish I could tell you to take your life back… but you’re at the Ritz and we’re not. Erdeeez added that he had just arrived in California and that he plans to speak to Epstein the next day.
Those emails, as well as a calendar recording Epstein’s records during his stay at his Manhattan residence, were obtained through a request for public records to the Attorney General of the U.S. Virgin Islands. A JPMorgan spokeswoman said contacts between wealthy clients and bank executives were not uncommon.
The emails provided to The Times by the Virgin Islands also include correspondence between Epstein and his closest associate, James E. Staley, a JPMorgan executive.
Some of it is personal: During a conversation in 2015, Staley asked Epstein if he would meet with his daughter to discuss plans after college. In a 2011 email exchange, Epstein and Staley discussed arranging dinner with the Staley family.
Other emails between Epstein, Eldeeez and Staley contained potential business deals. The exchanges focused on Epstein’s efforts to establish philanthropic partnerships between the bank and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, among others. He also inquired about meeting with Dimon to discuss plans.
A spokeswoman for the bank said Epstein never met Dimon. Epstein’s proposed charity with the Gates Foundation and JP Morgan didn’t go much beyond the 2011 talks when Gates first met Epstein.
JPMorgan cut ties with Epstein in 2013, years after some members of the bank’s compliance department warned against dealing with Epstein. And he was fired only after Mr. Staley left for another job.
The Times previously reported that Staley and Erdées supported keeping Epstein as a client after Epstein’s guilty plea in 2008, in part because Epstein He helped attract wealthy clients to JP Morgan’s private banking division.
Epstein’s relationship with Staley, better known as Jess, is at the center of the lawsuit. Virgin Islands lawyers allege that the two shared sexually suggestive emails about young women and that Epstein occasionally sent Staley “pictures of young women in seductive poses.” there is
The Virgin Islands argued that banks should have been aware of the email. Staley left JPMorgan in 2013 and became Barclays CEO in 2015. He resigned from the post in 2021, affected by an investigation into how British regulators portrayed his relationship with Epstein.
JPMorgan said it was not aware of any improper conduct involving Staley. However, the bank has named Mr. Staley as a defendant in a third-party lawsuit, which could expose Mr. Staley to liability for damages that the bank must pay if it is found to have engaged in improper conduct. be.federal judge of the week was denied Staley is about to be dismissed from the lawsuit.
Staley and his attorney did not respond to requests for comment, but court documents said he denied any wrongdoing and said he had no knowledge of sex trafficking.
Lawyers for Epstein victims scored big wins in similar cases last week. Deutsche Bank, Epstein’s main banker after JP Morgan, agreed to pay $75 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed in federal court last year. Year. A German bank previously paid a $150 million fine to New York regulators.
The proposed settlement with Deutsche Bank could serve as a template for any deal with JPMorgan. JP Morgan managed 40 accounts for Mr. Epstein and handled most of the wire transfers, including payments to alleged victims, according to people briefed on the matter.
“JPM was a true partner to him,” said Bradley Edwards, who along with David Boise are part of the legal team representing Epstein’s victims in the lawsuit. “This guy can’t really compare the two cases.”
To date, Epstein’s estate, once valued at $600 million, has paid out more than $150 million in settlements to more than 125 victims. These victims may be eligible to receive some of the funds from the proposed deal with Deutsche Bank.
The Virgin Islands lawsuit against JP Morgan rests on information gathered by the territory during its lawsuit against Epstein’s estate. The islands filed a lawsuit to recoup tens of millions of dollars in tax incentives given to Epstein’s St. Thomas-based business, reaching a $105 million settlement in November.
The Virgin Islands’ own dealings with Epstein have also been controversial over the years. Documents obtained by The Times through a public records request show that the government not only gave Epstein tax breaks that favored his business, but also eased Epstein’s travel restrictions in 2012 at the request of his lawyers.
Because of his status as a sex offender, Epstein was required to notify authorities of his travel plans, but the then Virgin Islands Attorney General reduced the notice period from about three weeks to one day, according to documents. It is shown.
JP Morgan used some of these criticisms of the Virgin Islands government to argue that the Virgin Islands were not in a position to sue for damages. In a court filing Tuesday, the bank said U.S. territorial officials had a long history of favoritism for Epstein, saying they “didn’t see him when he was walking through the USVI airport with girls and young women. I pretended not to see it,” he said.
The bank also noted that Epstein frequently donated campaign funds to local politicians, including Cecil de Jong, wife of the former Virgin Islands governor who served as an office manager at Epstein’s company for many years. I am seeking information about Mr. He will also remove current Gov. Albert Bryan Jr., who was chairman of the agency that gave Mr. Epstein’s companies big tax cuts.
