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Update:
- JP Morgan Chase agreed to a $75 million settlement with the U.S. Virgin Islands regarding claims that the bank profited from Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes, the island’s Department of Justice announced.
- The settlement includes $10 million for mental health services for Epstein’s victims along with funding for local charities serving residents who are victims of crimes, including human trafficking and domestic violence.
- “This settlement is an historic victory for survivors and for state enforcement, and it should sound the alarm on Wall Street about banks’ responsibilities under the law to detect and prevent human trafficking,” U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Ariel M. Smith said.
Virgin Islands, JPMorgan Chase and Epstein lawsuit overview:
- Who: The government of the United States Virgin Islands filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase NA.
- Why: The Virgin Islands claims JPMorgan should pay at least $190 million to resolve claims it helped enable a sex-trafficking ring run by deceased financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
- Where: The lawsuit was filed in New York federal court.
(July 20, 2023)
The U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit asking for JPMorgan Chase to pay at least $190 million over claims the bank enabled a sex-trafficking ring run by deceased financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
JPMorgan is accused of continuing to do business with Epstein for years while he ran his sex trafficking ring out of his private island in the Virgin Islands, and of failing to report “financial signs” of his illegal activities, according to Law360.
In addition to paying a monetary penalty, the Virgin Islands wants JPMorgan to implement new policies aimed at curbing human trafficking and to work with victims of trafficking to recognize its alleged failures with Epstein.
“These sets of recommendations aim to address the same core problem: JPMorgan’s knowledge of and failure to report Epstein’s trafficking because it lacked the economic incentive and motivation to place compliance with the law and prevention of trafficking ahead of its own profits,” the Virgin Islands said in a July 14 letter addressed to the judge.
JPMorgan argues Epstein maintained ‘quid pro quo’ relationship with high-ranking officials in Virgin Islands
JPMorgan has argued Epstein only chose to live in the Virgin Islands — and, thus, run his sex trafficking ring from there — because he maintained a “quid pro quo relationship with (the Virgin Islands’) highest ranking officials,” Law360 reports.
The Virgin Islands argues JPMorgan should prohibit its employees from making decisions about clients who they have a personal relationship with, and that new bank accounts should not be opened without “basic details” of the customer being known.
The Virgin Islands is seeking a total of $150 million in civil penalties along with an estimated $40 million in profits they argue JPMorgan made during its time working with Epstein, who died while in custody in August 2019.
The financial institution already agreed to pay $290 million in June to resolve separate claims it aided, abetted and profited from Epstein’s decades-long sex trafficking ring.
Do you believe JPMorgan helped enable Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring? Let us know in the comments.
The Virgin Islands is represented by Linda Singer, David I. Ackerman, Mimi Liu and Paige Boggs of Motley Rice LLC and Venetia Velazquez of the Civil Division of the Virgin Islands Department of Justice.
The Virgin Islands, JPMorgan Chase and Epstein lawsuit is Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, Case No. 1:22-cv-10904, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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