JPMorgan Chase has reached a tentative settlement with the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier accused of sexual abuse, following weeks of revelations about the bank’s extensive ties with him. The bank, along with lawyers representing the victims, announced the agreement on Monday.
According to David Boies, one of the lead lawyers for the victims, JPMorgan has agreed to pay $290 million to resolve the lawsuit. The settlement amount was initially intended to be disclosed in a court filing, which is expected to be submitted within the next week.
The lawsuit, filed in November 2022 in a federal court in Manhattan, was brought by an anonymous woman on behalf of victims who suffered sexual abuse by Epstein over a span of approximately 15 years when they were teenage girls and young women. The suit stated that the number of victims could potentially exceed 100.
In a joint statement, JPMorgan and the victims’ lawyers acknowledged that they had reached “an agreement in principle to settle” the lawsuit, emphasizing that the settlement is in the best interests of all parties, particularly the survivors who were victims of Epstein’s heinous abuse.
The proposed settlement comes two weeks after Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s CEO, underwent a daylong deposition during which he claimed to have had minimal knowledge of Epstein prior to the financier’s arrest on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019. Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019, a month after his arrest.
While the settlement with the victims marks a significant development, JPMorgan still faces a related lawsuit from the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands. This ongoing lawsuit remains one of the most prominent Epstein-related cases, alongside years of legal battles involving Epstein’s estate and Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2021 conviction in a Manhattan federal court for aiding Epstein in sex trafficking.
The victims’ lawsuit against JPMorgan alleged that the bank disregarded repeated warnings about Epstein’s trafficking of underage girls and young women, even after he registered as a sex offender and pleaded guilty in a 2008 Florida case. The complaint claimed that the bank ignored red flags in Epstein’s activities due to his status as a wealthy client who had connections to even wealthier individuals.
Court documents and deposition testimony reviewed by The New York Times revealed that bank employees had filed numerous suspicious activity reports regarding Epstein’s large cash withdrawals. Despite designating Epstein as a “high-risk client” in 2006, the bank continued to provide services to him, even amid media reports detailing allegations of his sexual abuse and evidence suggesting that cash withdrawals were being used for payments to young women.
JPMorgan had served as Epstein’s primary banker from around 1998 to 2013, a period during which authorities and victims claim that much of the financier’s reprehensible conduct took place. In response to the settlement, JPMorgan reiterated its previous statements acknowledging the “heinous crimes” committed by Epstein and expressing regret over any association with him.
Last month, the same lawyers representing Epstein’s victims negotiated a tentative $75 million settlement with Deutsche Bank, which took over as Epstein’s primary banker after JPMorgan. Deutsche Bank, which ended its relationship with Epstein in late 2018, had paid a $150 million fine to New York regulators in 2020 for alleged failures in monitoring its financial dealings with Epstein.
The settlements with both banks are subject to approval by Judge Jed Rakoff of the Federal District Court in Manhattan, who is also presiding over the U.S. Virgin Islands’ lawsuit. The U.S. territory asserts that JPMorgan should be held liable for enabling Epstein to establish a sex trafficking operation on his private island residence in the U.S. Virgin Islands. JPMorgan, on the other hand, strongly opposes the lawsuit, alleging that government officials in the U.S. Virgin Islands had close ties with Epstein for nearly two decades.
Judge Jed Rakoff has expedited the lawsuits against JPMorgan, with numerous depositions taking place over the past three months, including depositions from CEO Jamie Dimon and Albert Bryan Jr., the governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The agreement between JPMorgan and Epstein’s victims was reached while some of the plaintiffs’ lawyers were conducting a deposition with James E. Staley, a former JPMorgan executive who had close connections to Epstein.
Court filings in the proposed settlement with Deutsche Bank indicated that the victims would be entitled to restitution ranging from $75,000 to $5 million each. It is expected that the victims’ lawyers will request fees of up to 30 percent, a similar request likely to be made in the JPMorgan litigation. Any fee request will require approval from Judge Rakoff.
These settlements with the two banks add to the financial relief provided to the numerous victims of Epstein in recent years. Epstein’s estate has already paid approximately $150 million in restitution to over 125 victims, many of whom may be eligible to seek additional compensation through the settlements with Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan.
The U.S. Virgin Islands, which reached a $105 million settlement with Epstein’s estate last year, reaffirmed its commitment to pursuing accountability from JPMorgan for its alleged violations of the law. Additionally, the U.S. Virgin Islands recently filed court documents that included emails from JPMorgan employees, with some emails dating back to 2008, where several individuals within the bank expressed the opinion that Epstein should not be retained as a customer.
The proposed settlements and ongoing legal actions underscore the crucial role that financial institutions play in detecting and preventing sex trafficking activities. The victims’ lawyers view these settlements as a signal that financial institutions must be vigilant in identifying and shutting down such illicit operations.
The settlement with JPMorgan also received class-action status approval from Judge Rakoff, providing a collective resolution for the victims involved in the lawsuit.
While the lawsuits against JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank are moving towards resolution, the legal proceedings in the U.S. Virgin Islands lawsuit and the ongoing efforts to hold individuals accountable for their involvement with Epstein’s activities continue. As these cases unfold, the focus remains on providing justice and support for the victims who suffered as a result of Epstein’s heinous crimes.
