JPMorgan, Epstein still had ties after account closure: Reports
JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States, had ties to Jeffery Epstein after the criminal was exposed as being a sex offender and had links to sex trafficking.
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Audrey Strauss, acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, points to a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell during a news conference, in New York, July 2, 2020 (AP)
Despite shutting Jeffrey Epstein's account in 2013, US bank JPMorgan Chase maintained contact with him, according to a Friday Wall Street Journal report.
According to court documents, Epstein was a JPMorgan client from roughly 2000 to 2013 and a Deutsche Bank client from 2013 to 2018.
According to the investigation, which cited persons familiar with the matter, Justin Nelson, a banker of Epstein's at JPMorgan, had many meetings at Epstein's home between 2014 and 2017. According to the article, Nelson also visited Epstein's property in New Mexico in 2016.
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The article explained that JPMorgan asserts that Epstein's accounts were closed in 2013. When Epstein was found guilty in 2008 of luring a minor into prostitution, he was obliged to register as a sex offender.
A JPMorgan spokesman claimed, according to the WSJ, that any meetings held with Epstein after 2013 were regarding other JPMorgan bank clients represented by the sex offender.
In 2019, Epstein was charged with trafficking underage girls for sexual exploitation. He was later found dead in his jail cell with fatal neck injuries. It is reported that his death was a suicide.
The US Virgin Islands, where Epstein had a residence, sued JPMorgan last year, stating that the bank turned a "blind eye" to his trafficking while providing banking services.
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JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank requested in January that a US judge reject claims filed by women who accused Epstein of sexual abuse, alleging that the banks allowed and ignored red flags about his sex trafficking.
In papers filed in Manhattan federal court in New York, the banks stated that they did not participate in or benefit from their former client's sex trafficking and that the nameless women did not allege violations of federal anti-trafficking legislation.
The banks also claimed they had no duty to safeguard the women from Epstein and were not responsible for his misdeeds, necessitating claims to be dismissed under a new New York law that allows abuse victims to sue even if statutes of limitations had elapsed.
Both complaints seek class-action status as well as specific monetary damages. They were filed on November 24, 2022, by attorneys who have represented numerous Epstein accusers.
The JPMorgan plaintiff is a former ballet dancer who claims Epstein mistreated and trafficked her from 2006 to 2013, and the Deutsche Bank plaintiff claims the same from 2003 to 2018.
