The government of the U.S. Virgin Islands is suing JPMorgan Chase for allegedly aiding and benefitting from Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring on his private island.
The new lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, arrives a month after two victims of the late financier sued JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank, accusing the investment banks of reaping millions through their relationship with Epstein and his illicit enterprise.
According to the filing, U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George brought the suit “after presenting her findings to JP Morgan in September 2022, in her ongoing effort to protect public safety and to hold accountable those who facilitated or participated in, directly or indirectly, the trafficking enterprise Epstein helmed.”
ADVERTISEMENT
“JP Morgan turned a blind eye to evidence of human trafficking over more than a decade because of Epstein’s own financial footprint, and because of the deals and clients that Epstein brought and promised to bring to the bank,” the complaint adds. “These decisions were advocated and approved at the senior levels of JP Morgan, including by the former chief executive of its asset management division and investment bank, whose inappropriate relationship with Epstein should have been evident to the bank.”
But while George alleges that JPMorgan executive Jes Staley “developed a close relationship with Epstein,” and that Epstein “brought additional high net worth clients” to the bank, large portions of the lawsuit detailing these accusations are redacted.
Last year, Staley left his role as chief executive at Barclays after British regulators conducted an investigation into his characterization of his relationship with Epstein. In a statement, the U.K. bank said that the probe made “no findings that Mr Staley saw, or was aware of, any of Mr Epstein's alleged crimes, which was the central question underpinning Barclays’ support for Mr Staley following the arrest of Mr Epstein in the summer of 2019.”
Still, Staley, who was listed in Epstein’s infamous rolodex, knew the disgraced multimillionaire since at least 1999. The New York Times reported that the men were so friendly that Staley visited Epstein while he served a lenient jail sentence in Florida for soliciting a minor. And in 2015, Staley and his wife reportedly sailed their yacht to Epstein’s private isle.
According to the Times report, Epstein introduced Staley to billionaire Glenn Dubin, and JPMorgan bought a majority stake in Dubin’s hedge fund Highbridge Capital Management in 2004. Epstein also listed Staley as a reference in 2013, when he applied for a license to set up his specialized bank Southern Country International in the Virgin Islands.
Meanwhile, another mostly redacted section of George’s lawsuit alleges that “JP Morgan ignored obvious red flags relating to Epstein’s accounts.”
“Each of these red flags was serious; together, they suggest a pattern of potentially illegal conduct that should have prompted action by JP Morgan,” the complaint adds.
The lawsuit accuses JPMorgan of participating in a sex-trafficking venture in violation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as well as violating the Virgin Islands Criminally Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. George is seeking penalties against JPMorgan including damages and “restitution of all ill-gotten gains” to the government.
In November, the attorney general settled a civil racketeering suit against Epstein’s estate for $105 million. That 2020 lawsuit alleged Epstein created a network of companies that engaged in forced labor and sexual servitude of girls and young women, many of whom were trafficked from Eastern Europe and forced to marry other victims for immigration purposes.
