A recent report by The Wall Street Journal indicates that the relationship between investment bank JPMorgan Chase and deceased child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein was more extensive than the firm has previously admitted.
According to the report, lawsuits filed against JPMorgan Chase claim that Epstein, who operated a hedge fund before his apparent suicide in 2019, received special treatment from the investment bank because he brought in numerous wealthy clients.
The bank continued to do business with Epstein for five years following his 2008 state-level conviction for procuring prostitution from a minor, despite assertions from attorneys that the firm is not liable for Epstein’s crimes.
Sources told The Wall Street Journal that Mary Erdoes, a senior lieutenant to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, visited Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse in 2011 and 2013, and communicated with him via email regarding a charitable fund the bank was looking to launch.
Additionally, John Duffy, the former head of JPMorgan Chase’s private bank, reportedly attended a meeting at Epstein’s townhouse in 2013, even though compliance officers had issued multiple warnings.
One month later, the company renewed an authorization allowing Epstein to borrow funds against his account.
Justin Nelson, a banker who worked with Epstein at JPMorgan Chase, visited Epstein’s New Mexico ranch in 2016 and attended several meetings at the Manhattan townhouse between 2014 and 2017.
This information surfaces just one month before Dimon, who has served as the bank’s chief executive since 2005, is scheduled to be deposed behind closed doors.
Attorneys recently discovered communications from employees referring to a “Dimon review” of the company’s relationship with Epstein, as reported by the Financial Times based on unnamed sources.
JPMorgan Chase faces legal actions from the U.S. Virgin Islands government and an unidentified Epstein victim, alleging that the firm profited from the deceased hedge fund manager’s criminal activities.
The bank denies that Dimon, considered one of the financial sector’s most influential executives, was aware of any review of the company’s ties to Epstein.
RELATED: CEO of Chase Bank Encourages Government to Seize Private Property to Advance Climate Initiatives
Another source told the Financial Times that no record exists of direct communication between Dimon and Epstein.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff dismissed most charges against JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank in the proposed class action lawsuits brought by the Epstein accuser and U.S. Virgin Islands officials.
Deutsche Bank received most of Epstein’s hedge fund business after his partnership with JPMorgan Chase ended in 2013.
Attorneys for the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Epstein victim, identified only as Jane Doe, stated in a joint declaration, “Epstein’s sex trafficking operation was impossible without the assistance of JPMorgan Chase, and later Deutsche Bank, and we assure the public that we will leave no stone unturned in our quest for justice for the many victims who deserved better from one of America’s largest financial institutions.”
Last year, managers of the Epstein estate agreed to settle a lawsuit with the U.S. Virgin Islands concerning the territory’s laws against fraud, sex trafficking, and child exploitation.
The estate consented to pay $105 million and half of the proceeds earned from selling the island of Little St. James, which earned infamy with nicknames such as “Pedophile Island” following Epstein’s death.