JPMorgan Chase settled this Monday through a tentative agreement a class-action lawsuit alleging knowingly profiting from the economic movements that arose from the sex trafficking conspiracy of his former client Jeffrey Epstein, who was arrested in August 2019 in a cell at a federal prison committed suicide in New York while awaiting trial. The financier had been arrested a month earlier for sex trafficking and child abuse.
If approved, the deal will ease some of the pressure on JPMorgan, which is accused of ignoring repeated warnings about the crimes of serial pedophile Epstein, who the bank had as a client between 1998 and 2013 when his court troubles surfaced. In addition to the US bank, another woman, represented by the same legal team, sued Deutsche Bank at the same time. The German bank, which became Epstein’s main financial institution after JPMorgan severed ties with him, agreed in May to settle his lawsuit for $75 million.
“We all now understand that Epstein’s behavior was outrageous and we believe this settlement is in the best interests of all parties, particularly the survivors who suffered unimaginable abuse at the hands of this man,” the London-based bank said. in New York, in a statement. “Any association with him was a mistake and we are sorry. We would never have done business with him if we believed he was in any way using our bank to commit heinous crimes.”
The victim’s allegation, a woman whose identity has not been released, who is referred to in the summary as Deutsche Bank’s plaintiff Jane Doe – the usual name given to anonymous whistleblowers by the US judiciary – was based on the fact that JPMorgan ignored the red flags surrounding Epstein because it valued him as a wealthy and influential client who could serve even wealthier clients. According to the New York Times, JPMorgan employees had filed multiple reports of “suspicious activity” about Epstein’s repeated large cash withdrawals, ostensibly to pay victims compensation and move them between his properties. Epstein would have moved hundreds of millions of dollars across at least 55 accounts, Bloomberg said. However, the bank kept him as a customer until 2013, although he was considered a “high-risk customer” in 2006.
The tentative agreement was reached two weeks after JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon testified on the matter. In a day-long hearing in federal court in Manhattan last November, Dimon said he had hardly heard of Epstein before the financier’s July 2019 arrest.
The tentative settlement does not end JPMorgan’s legal woes over its ties to Epstein. He still faces a lawsuit in the US Virgin Islands, where the financier owned a mansion to which he took several of his victims. The bank is also suing former private banking chief Jes Staley, whom the bank is holding liable for damages it has to pay for its ties to Epstein. Staley has denied any wrongdoing.
“Taken collectively or individually, the historic reparations from the banks that provided financial services to Jeffrey Epstein speak for themselves,” said David Boies, one of the attorneys for the prosecution. “It’s been a long time – too long – but today is a great day for Jeffrey Epstein survivors and a great day for justice.” Boies said JPMorgan asked not to disclose the amount of the deal and “up to further discussions we will comply with this request.”
Regarding the Virgin Islands lawsuit, authorities allege that the bank must pay damages for allowing Epstein to set up a base of operations for his sex trafficking program on his private island off St. Thomas. The bank has responded in its lawsuits that the Virgin Islands authorities appear not to have cared about Epstein’s presence in their jurisdiction for nearly two decades.
“We are pleased to learn of the settlement, which offers compensation to victims of Jeffrey Epstein for the role played by JPMorgan Chase in facilitating crimes committed against them,” a spokesman for the US Attorney General of the Virgin Islands said Monday. The territory will advance its case against the bank to prevent it “from supporting and profiting from human trafficking in the future,” he said.
Follow all information from Business And Business on Facebook and Twitteror in our weekly newsletter
Five Day Agenda
The day’s major economic dates, with the keys and context to understand their scope.
RECEIVE IT BY MAIL