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April 13, 2023 at 07:19 AM
What You Need to Know
- Its asset and wealth management chief Mary Erdoes said recently the bank knew by “2006 that Epstein was accused of paying cash to have underage girls ... brought to his home.”
JPMorgan Chase & Co. compliance staff urged the bank to cut ties with Jeffrey Epstein not just over sex-trafficking allegations but also over money-laundering suspicions, according to a new court filing.
In an amended complaint filed Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan, the U.S. Virgin Islands revealed new details of how JPMorgan handled allegations about Epstein up until 2013, the year the bank broke off its relationship with him.
The bank’s asset and wealth management chief executive Mary Erdoes admitted in a recent deposition that the bank was aware by “2006 that Epstein was accused of paying cash to have underage girls and young women brought to his home,” the territory alleges.
According to the revised suit, Epstein’s use of his accounts at the same time that allegations of sex-trafficking were emerging in the media raised red flags among JPMorgan’s anti-money laundering (AML) staff.
USVI claims Epstein used JPMorgan accounts to pay millions of dollars to his victims as well as other people and organizations who facilitated his conduct.
‘Human Trafficking’ Discussion
“AML Operations went to a [Private Bank] risk meeting late last week requesting that we exit this relationship,” a senior JPMorgan compliance official allegedly wrote in 2011. But the same person also noted that Epstein was “an alleged personal associate of the CEO of the Investment Bank (Jes Staley).”
A JPMorgan spokeswoman declined to comment on the latest filing.
Staley, who worked at JPMorgan for more than 30 years, was also formerly its private banking head, and his relationship with Epstein is at the center of allegations that the bank knew about the latter’s crimes.
According to the complaint, Staley discussed the topic of “human trafficking” with Epstein in 2011 and was told “there was no truth to the allegations.” Staley allegedly reassured bank staff that Epstein said there was no evidence against him and that he “was not expecting any problems.”
Federal prosecutors charged Epstein with sex-trafficking in 2019. He was found dead in his jail cell a month after his arrest. His death was later ruled a suicide.
Epstein ‘Should Go’
Since the USVI and a Jane Doe victim of Epstein filed separate lawsuits against JPMorgan late last year, the bank has accused Staley of “misleadingly vouching” for the late sex offender when it was deciding whether to retain him as a client.
JPMorgan has filed its own lawsuit against Staley, alleging he should be held responsible for any damages awarded against the bank in these suits.
USVI is suing JPMorgan for knowingly benefitting from Epstein’s sex trafficking venture for years. The bank denies the allegation and claims it had no knowledge of or involvement in Epstein’s crimes.
The territory, where Epstein owned a palatial villa on a private island and registered several businesses, alleges his sex trafficking operation could not have survived without the financial support of JPMorgan.
According to the USVI’s updated complaint, concerns about the “risks that Epstein posed were well known enough” that Erdoes, Staley, then-general counsel Stephen Cutler and other senior executives held several meetings to discuss the topic in 2008, 2011 and 2013.
