Alleged financial connections between convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and JPMorgan Chase were outlined Wednesday as the government of the Virgin Islands released a lawsuit against the financial giant.
The government initially filed a highly redacted lawsuit that accused JPMorgan Chase of “complicity” in Epstein’s criminal activity, according to Law & Crime.
JPMorgan has called the lawsuit a “meritless” reach into “deeper pockets,” noting that the government already reached a financial settlement with Epstein’s estate.
Epstein had been accused of sex trafficking when he died in 2019 in a Manhattan jail. Ghislaine Maxwell, who worked with Epstein, has been convicted of sex trafficking.
JP Morgan executive Jes Staley emails Jeffrey Epstein in July 2010, ONE YEAR AFTER Epstein got out of jail
Staley:
“That was fun. Say hi to Snow White”
Epstein:
“What character would you like next?”
Staley:
“Beauty and the Beast”
Epstein:
“Well, one side is available” pic.twitter.com/2UY0DWtUmU
— An Open Secret (@AnOpenSecret) February 16, 2023
The newly released version of the lawsuit said that “at least 20 individuals paid through JP Morgan accounts were victims of trafficking and sexual assault in Little St. James, New York, and/or other Epstein properties.” Little St. James was the location of Epstein’s Virgin Islands home.
“These women were trafficked and abused during different intervals between at least 2003 and July 2019, when Epstein was arrested and jailed, and these women received payments, typically multiple payments, between 2003 and 2013 in excess of $1 million collectively,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit noted that “Epstein also withdrew more than $775,000 in cash over that time frame from JP Morgan accounts, especially significant as Epstein was known to pay for ‘massages,’ or sexual encounters, in cash.”
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The suit said others linked to Epstein were paid through the bank.
“Financial information also reflects payments drawn from JP Morgan accounts of nearly $1.5 million to known recruiters, including to the MC2 modeling agency, and another $150,000 to a private investigative firm,” the lawsuit said.
At least one alleged victim was paid through the bank, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit stated, “Epstein paid more than $600,0000 to Jane Doe 1, a woman who — according to news reports contained in JP Morgan’s due diligence reports — Epstein purchased at the age of 14. Like other women who received payments from Epstein, Jane Doe 1 listed Epstein’s apartments on 66th Street in New York City as her address, which should have been a red flag to JP Morgan.”
The lawsuit noted that employees within the bank asked multiple times whether the bank was comfortable maintaining a relationship with Epstein, with one employee asking a superior “are you still comfortable with this client who is now a registered sex offender?”
The lawsuit delves into what it called Epstein’s “close personal relationship” with Jes Staley, a senior executive at JPMorgan.
“Between 2008 and 2012, Staley exchanged approximately 1,200 emails with Epstein from his JP Morgan email account. These communications show a close personal relationship and ‘profound’ friendship between the two men and even suggest that Staley may have been involved in Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit noted that on two separate occasions when Staley visited Epstein properties, “a woman with an Eastern European surname” was wired money by Epstein.
In July 2010, according to the lawsuit, Staley “sent an email to Epstein, saying: ‘Maybe they’re tracking u? That was fun. Say hi to Snow White.’ Epstein responded: ‘[W]hat character would you like next?’ When Staley said ‘Beauty and the Beast’, Epstein replied: ‘well one side is available.’”
A lawyer for Staley declined to comment, according to the Financial Times.
