NEW YORK, July 25 (Portal) – The US Virgin Islands have launched fresh allegations against JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) over the bank’s ties to former client Jeffrey Epstein. Among other things, executives discussed how the disgraced late financier surrounded himself with “nymphs.”
JPMorgan countered that the US Virgin Islands was also responsible for allowing Epstein to sexually abuse young women and teenage girls, saying the territory used its powers to facilitate those crimes.
The bank accused the territory of facilitating visas that allowed Epstein to bring victims and “looking the other way” whenever Epstein arrived at local airports accompanied by young women and girls.
Both allegations were made in duel with filings filed in federal court in Manhattan Monday night.
The U.S. Virgin Islands is suing JPMorgan for at least $190 million, alleging the bank ignored warning signs about Epstein because he was a wealthy and lucrative client from 1998 to 2013.
Ahead of the October 23 trial, the US Virgin Islands wants a judge to find that JPMorgan was involved in Epstein’s sex trafficking and obstructed law enforcement.
The filings contain many new details about the New York-based bank’s alleged conduct, including payments of more than $25 million to Epstein’s partner Ghislaine Maxwell and hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to Epstein’s victims.
They also cited a September 2012 email from a senior JPMorgan executive to Mary Erdoes, now the bank’s head of asset and wealth management, in which she compared another client’s house to Epstein’s.
“Reminded me of JE’s house, except it was more tasteful and housed fewer nymphets,” wrote the manager. “More like the Frick [museum]. Art was fabulous.
“Wow,” Erdoes replied.
In contrast, JPMorgan wants the judge to declare that the U.S. Virgin Islands should not be able to seek financial relief and to dismiss the territory’s claim that the bank obstructed law enforcement.
The bank has previously accused the US Virgin Islands of maintaining a close relationship with Epstein, where top officials gave him tax breaks and waived sex offender surveillance in exchange for cash and gifts.
Epstein owned two private islands within the territory and reportedly bought the second to prevent his sexual assaults from being spied on on the first.
The US Virgin Islands has already received more than $105 million from Epstein’s estate and reached a settlement with billionaire Leon Black, a former Epstein friend.
JPMorgan last month agreed to pay $290 million to settle a separate lawsuit brought by dozens of Epstein accusers.
Epstein committed suicide in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The case is US Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, US District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 22-10904.
Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York and Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Edited by Stephen Coates
Our standards: The Trust Principles.