JPMorgan Chase on Monday settled a lawsuit with a Jeffrey Epstein victim who claimed the banking giant facilitated the convicted pedophile’s sex-trafficking operation.
The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court in November on behalf of anonymous victim Jane Doe and other accusers of the late sex offender over the course of a 15-year period.
It claimed JPMorgan “knowingly” received benefits and profited from Epstein’s sex-trafficking venture, which the bank has previously denied.
In a joint statement, the bank and victims’ lawyers said the two parties had reached “an agreement in principle to settle” that “is in the best interests of all parties, especially the survivors who were the victims of Epstein’s terrible abuse.”
“Any association with him was a mistake and we regret it. 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,” JPMorgan added.
The statement did not reveal the sum of the payout to the victims, which would include Doe and as many as 100 others.
Last month, Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $75 million to settle a lawsuit claiming the German bank played a key role in facilitating Epstein’s abusive regime.
The agreement was reached three weeks after JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s two-day deposition, where he reportedly maintained that he never had any dealings with Epstein, and didn’t even know the sex offender was a JPMorgan client until his 2019 arrest.
Dimon’s predecessor, Jes Staley, contradicted the claim, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Staley admitted that he and Dimon had, in fact, communicated about Epstein both in 2006, when Epstein was first arrested, and again in 2008, when he pleaded guilty for soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution.
JPMorgan added in its statement that “litigation is still pending between the US Virgin Islands and JPMorgan Chase, as are JPMorgan Chase’s claims against Jes Staley.”
The Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned two islands, including one known as “Pedophile Island” — believed to be the so-called headquarters of Epstein’s sex trafficking ring — is a plaintiff in one of two lawsuits against JP Morgan.
According to its December 2022 suit, “JPMorgan knowingly, negligently and unlawfully provided and pulled the levers through which recruiters and victims were paid and was indispensable to the operation and concealment of the Epstein trafficking enterprise.”
Internal bank documents revealed that Epstein — who died by suicide behind bars in 2019 while awaiting trial — “routinely” made cash withdrawals between $40,000 and $80,000, totaling more than $750,000 per year.
Epstein was reportedly a JPMorgan client for about 15 years from as early as 2000.
In its suit, the Virgin Islands calls Dimon “a likely source of relevant and unique information” as to why JPMorgan kept Epstein on as a client after 2005, when Florida police began investigating him for molesting a 14-year-old girl.
Dimon, however, has maintained his innocence, including at his deposition when he pointed fingers at former JPMorgan boss Jes Staley — who left the big bank in 2013 following a 30-year tenure.
Also in 2013, JPMorgan cut ties with Epstein for being a “high-risk client” over his federal charges for sex-trafficking minors.
Staley, who was ousted from his role as Barclays CEO in November 2021, reportedly exchanged around 1,200 emails with Epstein during his time at JPMorgan.
He also visited Epstein in prison following his conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor in Florida in 2008.
The ex-JPMorgan executive is also facing a lawsuit from his former employer for allegedly “personally observing” Epstein as he assaulted his sex-trafficking victims and failing to disclose information to his bosses about the illegal venture.
In the documents, the bank wants Staley to be on the hook for damages incurred as a result of JPMorgan’s litigation related to the Epstein case.
The Wall Street giant also wants Staley to pay back wages that he earned “from at least 2006 through 2013” — the years during which Epstein “sexually abused Jane Doe 1 on a number of occasions in New York, Florida, New Mexico and the United States Virgin Islands,” according to the court filing.
The sum likely totals more than $80 million.