JPMorgan Chase allegedly knew about disgraced pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s attempts to silence his victims and avoid sex trafficking charges as early as 2006, according to a Monday court filing from the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI).
The USVI filed a motion for partial summary judgement in a New York court as part of its $190 million lawsuit against JPMorgan for allegedly ignoring Epstein’s crimes because he was a wealthy client, Reuters reported. In the court filing, the USVI alleges JPMorgan was aware of Epstein’s “rock star lawyers” attempts to discredit his victims and prevent Epstein from being charged with sex trafficking. (RELATED: ‘Regular Communication’: Jeffrey Epstein Reportedly Set Up Meetings Between JP Morgan And UK, UAE Officials)
US Virgin Islands Accuses JPMorgan Of Ignoring Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘Nymphettes’ | @DailyCaller
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“Rather than exit Epstein in 2006, JPMorgan handled millions of dollars in payments to Epstein’s other “rock star” lawyers who the Bank knew were working to discredit Epstein’s victims and help Epstein avoid federal sex-trafficking charges,” the filing reads.
“JPMorgan also knew that Epstein’s wealth and ‘high-powered’ lawyers allowed him to escape more serious charges including federal sex-trafficking charges,” the filing continues.
“JPMorgan was handling millions of dollars in payments to those lawyers at that time— including numerous [redacted] $100,000 payments—and continued to handle tens of millions in payments to lawyers.”
Epstein was indicted for felony solicitation of a prostitute and arrested in July 2006, which JPMorgan executives were allegedly aware of at the time from news reports and internal due diligence.
The bank was familiar with Epstein’s longtime partner Ghislaine Maxwell and allegedly handled $25 million worth of payments from Epstein to Maxwell, the USVI court filing asserts. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2022 for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors.
JPMorgan also had evidence of alleged payments from Epstein to an accomplice whose name was protected in the court filing. The bank continued to handle Epstein’s payments to the accomplice after police publicly identified the individual, according to the court filing.
In 2004, JPMorgan opened bank accounts for two teenage Epstein victims and knew about multiple payments Epstein made to the victim’s account. News reports showed that Epstein referred to the victim as his “Yugoslavian sex slave” and JPMorgan knew she was living in a building owned by Epstein’s brother, the court filing claims.
JPMorgan had a “rapid response” meeting about Epstein’s cash withdrawals in conjunction with his felony charges. The bank’s compliance team noticed that Epstein withdrew cash to pay for his massages and “minors are the issue,” the court filing alleges.
“JPMorgan knew that in the time period of the incidents investigated by the Palm Beach police, and prior to Epstein’s plea, it had handled nearly $1.75 million in cash withdrawals for Epstein,” the filing adds.
Epstein pleaded guilty to two prostitution charges in September 2007 and signed a non-prosecution agreement to avoid federal charges. He ended up going to prison in Florida for a year, with most of his time spent in a work release program. When he left prison, Epstein relocated to the USVI.
JPMorgan accused the USVI of aiding Epstein’s sex crimes and scapegoating the bank in a memo in support of partial summary judgement against the USVI. (RELATED: Why Hasn’t Anyone From Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘Little Black Book’ Been Arrested Yet)
“Rather than account for its own failures to investigate and monitor this criminal under its jurisdiction and to protect its citizens and sovereign interests, USVI blames a third-party bank that did not have USVI’s authority to enforce any law, nor USVI’s knowledge of Epstein’s crimes in USVI’s territory, and seeks to pursue such claims at the expense of dragging Epstein’s victims through yet more litigation,” the document reads.
JPMorgan previously described in court filings how leading USVI Democratic politicians allegedly aided Epstein and solicited donations from him.
Federal prosecutors charged Epstein for sex trafficking in July 2019 and he was found dead in his New York City jail cell the next month. Epstein’s death was not caught on camera and it has been ruled a suicide by investigators.
JPMorgan agreed to pay Epstein victims $290 million in June to settle a class action lawsuit related to Epstein’s crimes. The victims agreed in May to a similar $75 million settlement with Deutsche Bank.
JPMorgan said in a June statement that it regrets associating with Epstein and should not have been doing business with him, Reuters reported.
“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.”