Alleged financial connections between convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and JPMorgan Chase were outlined Wednesday as the government of the Virgin Islands released a Lawsuit against the financial giant.
The government initially filed a highly redacted Lawsuit that accused JPMorgan Chase of ācomplicityā in Epsteinās criminal activity, according to Law & Crime.
JPMorgan has called the Lawsuit a āmeritlessā reach into ādeeper pockets,ā noting that the government already reached a financial settlement with Epsteinās estate.
Epstein had been accused of sex trafficking when he died in 2019 in a Manhattan jail. Ghislaine Maxwell, who worked with Epstein, has been convicted of sex trafficking.
The newly released version of the Lawsuit said that āat least 20 individuals paid through JP Morgan accounts were victims of trafficking and sexual assault in Little St. James, New York, and/or other Epstein properties.ā Little St. James was the location of Epsteinās Virgin Islands home.
āThese women were trafficked and abused during different intervals between at least 2003 and July 2019, when Epstein was arrested and jailed, and these women received payments, typically multiple payments, between 2003 and 2013 in excess of $1 million collectively,ā the Lawsuit said.
The Lawsuit noted that āEpstein also withdrew more than $775,000 in cash over that time frame from JP Morgan accounts, especially significant as Epstein was known to pay for āmassages,ā or sexual encounters, in cash.ā
The suit said others linked to Epstein were paid through the bank.
āFinancial information also reflects payments drawn from JP Morgan accounts of nearly $1.5 million to known recruiters, including to the MC2 modeling agency, and another $150,000 to a private investigative firm,ā the Lawsuit said.
At least one alleged victim was paid through the bank, the Lawsuit said.
The Lawsuit stated, āEpstein paid more than $600,0000 to Jane Doe 1, a woman who ā according to news reports contained in JP Morganās due diligence reports ā Epstein purchased at the age of 14. Like other women who received payments from Epstein, Jane Doe 1 listed Epsteinās apartments on 66th Street in New York City as her address, which should have been a red flag to JP Morgan.ā
The Lawsuit noted that employees within the bank asked multiple times whether the bank was comfortable maintaining a relationship with Epstein, with one employee asking a superior āare you still comfortable with this client who is now a registered sex offender?ā
The Lawsuit delves into what it called Epsteinās āclose personal relationshipā with Jes Staley, a senior executive at JPMorgan.
āBetween 2008 and 2012, Staley exchanged approximately 1,200 emails with Epstein from his JP Morgan email account. These communications show a close personal relationship and āprofoundā friendship between the two men and even suggest that Staley may have been involved in Epsteinās sex-trafficking operation,ā the Lawsuit said.
The Lawsuit noted that on two separate occasions when Staley visited Epstein properties, āa woman with an Eastern European surnameā was wired money by Epstein.
In July 2010, according to the Lawsuit, Staley āsent an email to Epstein, saying: āMaybe theyāre tracking u? That was fun. Say hi to Snow White.ā Epstein responded: āhat character would you like next?ā When Staley said āBeauty and the Beastā, Epstein replied: āwell one side is available.āā
A lawyer for Staley declined to comment, according to the Financial Times.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.