On Thursday, a lawyer for the US Virgin Islands claimed that JPMorgan Chase informed US authorities that it processed more than $1 billion for Jeffrey Epstein over 16 years.
Following Epstein’s suicide in 2019, JPMorgan reported the suspicious transactions to the US Treasury Department, according to Mimi Liu, a lawyer for the territory, at a hearing regarding its lawsuit against the largest US bank.
A spokesperson for JPMorgan declined to comment.
Epstein had been a client of JPMorgan from 1998 until 2013 when he was sacked. At the time of his death, the disgraced financier was awaiting trial on sex trafficking accusations.
The United States Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned two private islands, is suing JPMorgan for at least $190 million and likely much more, alleging that the bank overlooked red flags that Epstein was conducting a sex trafficking operation because he was a successful client.
JPMorgan has denied knowledge about Epstein’s sex trafficking operation and has chastised the territory for having a cozy relationship with him.
Liu highlighted the $1 billion figure, which had not previously been disclosed, in arguing that US District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan should conclude that the bank cooperated in Epstein’s sex trafficking before the matter goes to trial.
She claimed that no reasonable jury could conclude that JPMorgan was unaware in the dark about its jet-setting client.
“JPMorgan was a full-service bank for Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking”, claimed Liu.
JPMorgan lawyer Felicia Ellsworth argued it was inappropriate for the judge to rule on the bank’s knowledge before trial because current and former workers had testified that they were uninformed of Epstein’s sex trafficking.
She claimed that JPMorgan contacted the Treasury Department at least six times about Epstein’s transactions, beginning in 2002.
Ellsworth also questioned the U.S. Virgin Islands assertion that JPMorgan blocked investigations into Epstein, claiming that the bank had inquired about federal authorities’ own probes into his action.
“That is the polar opposite of trying to obstruct”, she explained.
The trial is set for October 23. Rakoff stated that he would make a decision by the end of September on whether to settle big legal disputes sooner.
Rakoff gave preliminary approval in June to JPMorgan’s $290 million deal with women who claim Epstein assaulted them.
Epstein’s accusers had previously agreed to a $75 million settlement with Deutsche Bank, where he was a client from 2013 to 2018.
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