Topline
A federal judge on Monday allowed several lawsuits to move forward accusing banking giants JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank of knowingly benefitting from disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein's child sex trafficking schemes, but dismissed several other claims alleging the two megabanks participated in and facilitated the abuse.
A federal judge allowed cases alleging JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank knew about disgraced late ... [+] financier Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse of underage women to continue.
Getty ImagesKey Facts
Manhattan-based Judge Jed Rakoff tossed the majority of claims in two suits filed against JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank by one of the women Epstein abused—identified as Jane Doe—and in a third lawsuit against JPMorgan by the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein allegedly abused underage women at his private island estate.
Rakoff did allow plaintiffs to proceed with claims the banks knew about the abuse and knowingly benefited from it (he did not provide a reasoning for his ruling).
The banking giants had filed motions to dismiss the complaints in early February (JPMorgan refused to comment on the ruling while Deutsche Bank did not immediately respond to a Forbes inquiry).
U.S. Virgin Islands attorney Mimi Liu argued in court on Friday JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and a former bank executive Jes Staley—who left the firm in 2013—had known about Epstein’s sex trafficking as early as 2008.
Surprising Fact
JPMorgan officials had attempted earlier this month to redirect blame solely on Staley and make him responsible for any financial damages incurred in the lawsuits, filing a suit claiming Staley concealed his relationship with Epstein and was aware of Epstein’s abuse.
Key Background
Epstein was found dead in a New York City jail cell in August 2019 from an apparent suicide, while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges for years of abusing underage women at his Palm Beach, Florida, estate and on his private island in the tax haven U.S. Virgin Islands. The two banking giants’ relationships with Epstein came under renewed scrutiny last year, after Jane Doe 1 filed a lawsuit claiming JP Morgan turned a blind eye to Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking between 1998 and 2013 in a scheme to “churn profits,” while keeping Epstein as a client, even after he pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008. The lawsuits from Jane Doe 1 also allege Deutsche Bank had played an “essential role” in Epstein’s abuse of underage women and “knowingly participated” in his abuse between 2013 and 2018 by enabling him to pay those women.
Big Number
$120 million. That’s how much money Epistein had in assets with JPMorgan in 2008, according to court filings.
Further Reading
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon ‘Knew In 2008’ That Epstein Was A Sex Trafficker, Lawyer Argues (CNBC)
JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank Sued Over Jeffrey Epstein Links (Forbes)
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