“Any association with him was a mistake and we regret it.” That was JPMorgan’s statement on Monday, after the bank agreed to pay roughly $290 million to settle a lawsuit brought for alleged victims of Jeffrey Epstein.
The deal still needs court approval. The bank will not admit liability. David Boies, one of the victims’ attorneys, told CNN that once the settlement is approved, JPMorgan will issue a statement expressing regret over its link to Epstein.
Lawyers for the bank said the agreement was “in the best interests of all parties, especially the survivors who were the victims of Epstein’s terrible abuse.” They added: “We would never have continued to do business with him if we believed he was using our bank in any way to help commit heinous crimes.”
What the suit claimed
The case accused the largest US bank of ignoring warning signs about Epstein across a 15-year relationship. He kept hundreds of millions of dollars in more than 50 accounts there between 1998 and 2013. That period ran five years past his guilty plea to soliciting a minor for prostitution.
The unnamed accuser, identified only as Jane Doe 1, said JPMorgan “knowingly facilitated, sustained and concealed” Epstein’s frequent cash withdrawals. She said the money paid the young women he trafficked, and that the bank profited from the deals and clients he brought in.
Epstein was found dead in a prison cell in 2019, aged 66. New York City’s medical examiner ruled it a suicide.
Weeks of bad headlines
The settlement came after a rough few weeks for the bank. Late last month, chief executive Jamie Dimon gave a statement under oath in a day-long deposition at the bank’s New York headquarters. On Friday, Jane Doe 1’s lawyers asked a federal judge for permission to take new testimony from Dimon and to reopen depositions for three other key witnesses.
The bank had already failed to get the two suits dismissed. It has argued that any civil liability belongs with Jes Staley, a former top executive who befriended Epstein. Staley says his old employer is trying to “deflect blame” for its own failures. He sought to dismiss the claims against him, but that complaint is still active.
A second suit, filed against JPMorgan late last year in federal court, is also pending. It was brought for the government of the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned a private island with a mansion.
Deutsche Bank, where Epstein was a client after he left JPMorgan in 2013, settled with his accusers last month for $75 million. The Epstein estate has paid more than $150 million to over 100 victims so far.
