JPMorgan to pay $290M to settle lawsuit from Jeffrey Epstein victims
JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $290 million to settle a lawsuit over the bank’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein, according to lawyers for Epstein’s victims — a deal that comes shortly after top executives were questioned over the scandal.
The lawsuit — which claimed the banking giant helped facilitate the dead pedophile’s sex-trafficking ring — was filed in Manhattan federal court in November on behalf of anonymous victim Jane Doe and other unnamed Epstein accusers over the course of a 15-year period.
The suit claimed JPMorgan “knowingly” ignored red flags about Epstein until 2013 because and profited from his sex-trafficking venture as he brought other wealthy clients to the bank.
The agreement was reached three weeks after JPMorgan Chase 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.
Ex-JPMorgan executive Jes Staley, however, contradicted the claim, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal — and reportedly was deposed again over the weekend.
Staley reportedly had admitted that he and Dimon did, in fact, communicate 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.
The settlement comes less than two weeks after Dimon was floated as a possible candidate for the 2024 presidential race. The mega-bank quashed the speculation last week, saying in a statement that “he is very happy in his current role” with “no plans to run for office.”
On Monday, JPMorgan and Epstein’s victims’ lawyers jointly said that 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 settlement also comes weeks after three victims of Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring penned emotional letters begging JPMorgan Chase executives to admit they knew about the sexual abuse. One of them was Haley Robson, who was a 16-year-old high school student in West Palm Beach, Fla., when Epstein lured her into his abusive orbit, according to the Daily Beast.
Robson, now 30, recently addressed a letter to Dimon detailing the “shame” and “criticism” she’s experienced since Epstein’s demise.
“Why did we all get picked apart publicly when the reality is you and many more knew something and didn’t speak up?! How did the unexplained cash withdrawals not get reported?” Robson wrote.
Internal bank documents revealed that Epstein — who died by suicide behind bars in 2019 while awaiting trial — “routinely” made cash withdrawals from his JPMorgan accounts between $40,000 and $80,000, totaling more than $750,000 per year.
“I may not be as smart as you, but we should at least agree that the information you withheld has hurt me and many others,” she added. “If you are a good human, you will just admit to making a mistake and be the first to try to do what is right to end this chapter on a positive note for all of us.”
It’s unclear what exact date the letter was sent, though it was reportedly before Dimon’s deposition.
The settlement, which was granted class-action status on Monday, 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.
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.
JPMorgan, which has denied any wrongdoing, still faces a related lawsuit from the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned two islands — one of which came to be known as “Pedophile Island.”
According to the December suit from the US Virgin Islands, “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.”
Epstein was reportedly a JPMorgan client for about 15 years from as early as 1998.
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 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.
