Crypto news Blog: Reuters, NEW YORK, February 22 – In response to a lawsuit alleging the largest U.S. bank of aiding its former client’s sex trafficking operation, JPMorgan Chase & Co. argued on Wednesday that it should not be held responsible for a former top executive’s contact with Jeffrey Epstein.
Crypto news: In a document submitted to a federal court in Manhattan, JPMorgan stated that the U.S. Virgin Islands, which brought the complaint, had no basis for claiming that emails between Epstein and former CEO Jes Staley showed Staley could “identify Epstein’s sex trafficking.”
In addition, the bank claimed there was no evidence that Staley’s personal trips to the islands or alleged inappropriate emails were related to his work. Even if Staley had assisted in “directing” Epstein’s sex trafficking, the bank claimed, “his conduct would be far beyond his remit as a JPMC employee.”
Crypto news blogs: JPMorgan claimed there was no explanation for how it could have known about and benefited from Epstein’s actions by having him as a customer from 2000 to 2013, calling the case “misdirected and defective.”
Requests for response from the U.S. Virgin Islands’ lawyers were not immediately fulfilled. Staley is not an accused party.
While awaiting his sex trafficking trial in August 2019, Epstein committed suicide in a detention cell in Manhattan.
One week after a court filing revealed that Staley and Epstein had exchanged over 1,200 emails between 2008 and 2012, some of which contained sexual language concerning young ladies, JPMorgan filed a move to dismiss the case.
Crypto news: In 2008, Epstein admitted admission to a Florida state court charge of prostitution.
The former head of JPMorgan Private Banking, Staley, acknowledged familiarity with Epstein but denied being aware of his alleged wrongdoings.
Staley took the helm of Barclays Plc after leaving JPMorgan, but he left the company in November 2021 due to a disagreement with British banking regulators who were looking into his connections to Epstein.
In December 2022, the U.S. Virgin Islands filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan for undisclosed damages, claiming the bank should have been aware of Epstein’s improper behaviour on a private island he owned there.
Moreover, JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank AG, who Epstein used to be a client of from 2013 to 2018, are being sued by Epstein’s victims. Both banks are asking to be fired.
Government of the United States of America v. JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, No. 22-10904, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. (New York-based reporter Jonathan Stempel and Tom Hogue’s editing)
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