JPMorgan is suing former executive Jes Staley to hold him responsible for any damages which may stem from lawsuits accusing the bank of facilitating Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation.
As Bloomberg reports, the bank filed a third-party complaint on Wednesday afternoon against Staley in Manhattan federal court. According to the filing, Staley should be held liable if allegations about his relationship with Epstein are found to be true.
The filing comes weeks after the US Virgin Islands revealed bombshell emails between Staley and Epstein from 2010 referencing Disney princesses, presumably in the context of girls procured for sexual activities.
“That was fun,” Staley allegedly wrote to Epstein. “Say hi to Snow White.“
To which Epstein replied: “[W]hat character would you like next?”
“Beauty and the Beast.”
Epstein also emailed Staley photos of young women in seductive poses, the filing continues.
JPMorgan responded – claiming that the emails fail to show that minors were victimized, or that “force, fraud or coercion” were used against women. The bank has asked the judge to dismiss the case, in which the USVI and Epstein accusers say JPMorgan is liable for facilitating Epstein’s sex trafficking of minors, because they ignored obvious red flags while continuing to provide banking services to the prolific pedophile.
The close ties between Staley, once JPMorgan’s private banking chief, and Epstein have been at the core of two suits claiming the bank knew or should have known about Epstein’s crimes and kept him on as a client anyway. But Staley himself was not named as a defendant in either suit. -Bloomberg
As Bloomberg further notes, JPMorgan’s new filing could shift some of the liability to Staley himself.
Staley and Epstein exchanged upwards of 1,200 emails over a period of several years. In 2013, Staley left JPMorgan to become CEO of Barclays, which he left in 2021 following a probe by the UK Financial Conduct Authority into his relationship with Epstein.
Epstein, meanwhile, had around 55 accounts with JPMorgan between 1998 and 2013, which contained hundreds of millions of dollars. At least 20 individuals paid through JPMorgan accounts were “victims of trafficking and sexual assault in Little St James,” according to the USVI.
We can only assume this filing means that there’s something big coming, and JPMorgan knows it.
