JPMorgan Chase accused of turning 'blind eye' to Epstein sex crimes: lawsuit
Attorney General claims financial institution knew about Epstein's human trafficking for over a decade
A lawsuit filed this week in a Manhattan Federal Court claims JPMorgan Chase "turned a blind eye" to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex crimes.
U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George filed the suit on behalf of the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands, demanding a trial by jury.
In the suit, George alleges that JPMorgan Chase violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, The Virgin Islands Criminally Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, and the Virgin Islands Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.
Jeffrey Epstein in Cambridge, Mass., Sept,8, 2004. ((Rick Friedman/Rick Friedman Photography/Corbis via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
JEFFREY EPSTEIN SEX TRAFFICKING OPERATION BENEFITTED BANKS, ACCUSERS ALLEGE IN LAWSUIT
"The Attorney General brings this action, after presenting her findings 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," the complaint reads. "The investigation revealed that JP Morgan 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."
George tells the court that financial institutions can connect, or even choke human trafficking networks.
She claims that JPMorgan Chase "knowingly" facilitated, sustained and concealed Epstein’s human trafficking network, which he operated from his home in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and failed to comply with federal banking regulations.
She alleges that the financial institution facilitated and concealed suspicious wire and cash transactions for Epstein’s "criminal enterprise whose currency was the sexual servitude of dozens of women and girls in and beyond the Virgin Islands."
Jeffrey Epstein attends an event in New York, May 18, 2005. ((Neil Rasmus/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images))
"Upon information and belief, 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 the bank," the lawsuit reads. "These decision s 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."
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"Indeed, it was only after Epstein’s death that JP Morgan belatedly complied with federal banking regulations regarding Epstein’s accounts," the lawsuit continued.
JPMorgan Chase declined to comment on active litigation on Thursday.