JPMorgan Chase (JPMC) agreed to pay $75 million to the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) to settle its lawsuit related to disgraced pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the parties announced in separate press releases Tuesday.
JPMorgan and USVI have agreed to a $55 million payment from the bank and an additional $20 million for attorney fees, according to a press release from JPMorgan. The bank will pay $30 million to USVI charitable organizations, including those designed to fight human trafficking and sex crimes, as part of the settlement. JPMorgan will also be giving $25 million to USVI to enhance the territory’s law enforcement capabilities and better combat human trafficking.
INBOX: JP Morgan and the US Virgin Islands have reached a settlement for litigation related to Jeffrey Epstein. The bank also settled its lawsuit against disgraced ex-JPM executive Jes Staley @DailyCaller https://t.co/xLsKIusA2C pic.twitter.com/t0f9chtCZ1
— James Lynch (@jameslynch32) September 26, 2023
“JPMorgan Chase believes this settlement is in the best interest of all parties, particularly for those who can benefit from efforts to combat human trafficking, and for survivors who suffer unimaginable abuse at the hands of these criminals,” the press release reads. (RELATED: ‘Mostly Fun’: Democrat Megadonor Reportedly Introduced Trump Backer To Jeffrey Epstein)
“While the settlement does not involve admissions of liability, the firm deeply regrets any association with this man, and would never have continued doing business with him if it believed he was using the bank in any way to commit his heinous crimes.”
The USVI published its own press release touting JPMorgan’s commitments and the $75 million worth of payments JPMorgan will make to the territory.
“As part of the settlement, JPMorgan has agreed to implement and maintain meaningful anti-trafficking measures, which will help prevent human trafficking in the future,” USVI Attorney General Ariel M. Smith said in the press release. “This settlement is an historic victory for survivors and for state enforcement, and it should sound the alarm on Wall Street about banks’ responsibilities under the law to detect and prevent human trafficking.”
“Our Department of Justice tirelessly pursued this enforcement action to make it substantially harder for traffickers to finance their crimes in the future, and we are confident this settlement will help achieve that goal,” Smith continued. “We are proud to have stood alongside the survivors throughout this litigation, and this settlement reflects our continued commitment to them. With this constructive resolution of this groundbreaking litigation, we look forward to helping our community move forward and to building a new relationship with JPMorgan.”
Former USVI Attorney General Denise George initially filed the lawsuit against JPMorgan. George was “relieved of her duties” shortly after she brought the lawsuit, according to a local media report.
“JPMC remains committed to previous and ongoing efforts to fight human trafficking through its anti-money laundering (‘AML’) program and lists a number of processes we previously committed to,” a spokesperson for the bank told the Daily Caller.
“There are no new commitments,” the spokesperson continued. “Our controls, compliance, risk, and other functions are always improving, and we are continually investing to become even better. We have always worked closely with law enforcement to help combat human trafficking, and we will continue to look for ways to invest in advancing this important mission.”
JPMorgan also settled its lawsuit against disgraced former JPMorgan executive Jes Staley, whose text messages with Jeffrey Epstein allegedly used Disney characters to describe underage girls.
The territory’s democratic political establishment allegedly solicited donations from Epstein and gave him special treatment, according to court documents from JPMorgan’s lawsuit against the USVI. Likewise, JPMorgan appeared to have knowledge of Epstein’s behavior and his alleged attempts to silence his victims as early as 2006, according to the court filings.
Epstein was a client of JPMorgan’s from roughly 1998-2013 and the bank processed an estimated $1 billion worth of transactions for Epstein, the USVI said at a court hearing, according to Reuters. The USVI accused JPMorgan of ignoring the red flags surrounding Epstein because he was a lucrative client.
JPMorgan agreed to a separate settlement with a group of Epstein victims who accused the bank of enabling Epstein’s child sex trafficking.
Epstein was sentenced to roughly a year in jail in 2008 for soliciting a minor for prostitution in Florida. He established residence in the USVI after he was released and allegedly ran his sex trafficking operation from Little St. James island.
Epstein’s estate agreed to sell Little St. James and his other private island as part of a $105 million settlement with the USVI in December 2022. A billionaire real estate investor purchased Epstein’s islands in May 2023 and plans on making them into a resort.
Federal prosecutors charged Epstein in July 2019 for sex trafficking and he was found dead in his New York City jail cell a month later. Epstein’s death has been ruled a suicide.
His partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2022 for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse underage girls.
