JPMorgan Chase claimed that its former executive Jes Staley repeatedly «thwarted» its efforts to cut ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during Staley’s tenure at the bank, according to court documents filed this week.
The Wall Street giant sued Staley in March, saying he should be liable for financial damages the bank might have to pay for two lawsuits alleging the bank enabled Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation.
JPMorgan has denied liability.
Staley, who worked at the bank for more than 30 years, asked a federal judge in April to throw out the suit, saying the bank was using him as a «public relations shield.»
In response, the bank alleged this week that Staley knew of Epstein’s sex trafficking venture and engaged in «sexual activity with young women provided by Epstein» but «acted to protect himself and Epstein (who could have exposed the bad news). Staley’s conduct),” the court documents said.
Staley «persisted for years in shielding Epstein from attempts by JPMC staff to terminate the company’s relationship with Epstein on reputational grounds, made false statements in the process, and continued to do so until the end of his tenure at JPMC,» stated the bank. in the court file.
An Epstein victim alleged that Staley sexually assaulted her while she worked at the bank, according to court documents.
JPMorgan Chase said this week that it «did not and could not reasonably have known» of the woman’s allegations.
Staley’s attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The former bank executive previously called the allegations «baseless» but expressed regret over his relationship with Epstein.
Epstein was convicted of procuring a child for prostitution in 2008. He died by suicide in 2019 at a Manhattan correctional facility where he was being held on federal sex trafficking charges.
JPMorgan Chase was sued by the US Virgin Islands and a woman identified as «Jane Doe 1» last year, alleging that the bank turned a «blind eye» to Epstein’s conduct.
Emails and internal memos submitted as evidence this week revealed that bank executives were concerned about the financial institution’s relationship with Epstein dating back to 2006.
In October 2006, the bank’s rapid response team issued a memo saying Epstein had bank, asset, and credit accounts with balances totaling $32 million.
The memo also said cash withdrawals were made «routinely» in amounts of $40,000 to $80,000 several times a month, totaling «more than $750,000 year to date,» according to the document.
The memo stated: “following internal discussions with Jes Staley, Mary Erdoes, Catherine Keating, John Duffy and Mary Casey, it has been decided that we will retain Mr. Epstein solely as a banking client and on a ‘reactive’ customer service basis. ” and “we will not proactively solicit new investment business from you.”
A month later, Ann Borowiec, a JPMorgan Chase executive, emailed Staley with the subject line: «Epstein, please call me.» In the email, Borowiec said she had «risk management concerns with this client» and «we have a bad internal record on risk… as you know.»
Will Jeffrey still be involved here? How are we managing risk here? Please call,» Borowiec asked Staley in the email.
In 2013, two bank managers emailed about the private bank’s risk unit, referring Epstein in 2008 to his anti-money laundering program due to «excessive cash activity» and media reports that They alleged their connection to sex trafficking. Epstein was «marked» as «high risk» at the time.
Another email exchange from 2011 indicates that the bank kept Epstein as a client «because of Jes’s personal relationship» with him despite the fact that other bank directors were not «in favor of retaining him as a client.»
A director in the same email correspondence said they also investigated one of Epstein’s assistant transactions that included “many salons, lingerie stores, pharmacies in New York Palm Beach and St. Thomas (his places of residence). Plus lots of videos like girls going crazy.”