By: Ellen Cans
The US Virgin Islands government has filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase for failing to report suspicious activity, and allegedly benefiting monetarily from Jeffrey Epstein’s illicit activities.
As reported by the NY Post, the complaint filed in Manhattan Federal court by US Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George alleges that the bank was “turning a blind eye” to Epstein’s crimes. The convicted sex offender and disgraced financier had owned a private island in the VI territory where he allegedly abused underage girls. Epstein died at age 66 by suicide in Manhattan prison in Aug. 2019 while awaiting trial related to federal sex trafficking charges. George said the new 30-page lawsuit against JP Morgan, which is seeking unspecified damages, is the latest “ongoing effort” to bring accountability to those who aided in facilitating Epstein’s crimes. JPMorgan Chase had provided high-end banking services to Epstein, until the bank terminated the relationship in 2013.
“Human trafficking was the principal business of the accounts Epstein maintained at JPMorgan,” George stated in the complaint. “JPMorgan knowingly, negligently and unlawfully provided and pulled the levers through which recruiters and victims were paid and was indispensable to the operation and concealment of the Epstein trafficking enterprise.” The suit also alleged the bank concealed “wire and cash transactions that raised suspicion of a criminal enterprise whose currency was the sexual servitude” of girls and women in the Virgin Islands. The suit even claims that the investment bank “financially benefited from this participation.”
“Over more than a decade, JPMorgan clearly knew it was not complying with federal regulations in regard to Epstein-related accounts as evidenced by its too-little too-late efforts after Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges and shortly after his death, when JPMorgan belatedly complied with federal law,” the lawsuit claims.
As per the Post, previously the estate of Epstein agreed to pay roughly $105 million to the U.S. Virgin Islands, in a bid to settle claims that he used the territory for his sex trafficking operation. As part of that settlement, the estate will sell the two private islands once owned by Epstein — Little Saint James and Great Saint James. “This settlement restores the faith of the People of the Virgin Islands that its laws will be enforced, without fear or favor, against those who break them,” George said in a news release in late November. “We are sending a clear message that the Virgin Islands will not serve as a haven for human trafficking.”
After the new lawsuit was filed, Yahoo reported that USVI Governor Albert Bryan Jr. was unhappy about the lawsuit and said he had not been notified. On Jan. 1, Bryan issued a statement saying, “I relieved Denise George of her duties as attorney general this weekend.” He added, “I thank her for her service to the people of the Territory during the past four years as Attorney General and wish her the best in her future endeavors.” In response to questions about the termination, Bryan’s spokesman commented telling DailyMail that reports claiming George was fired over the lawsuit were “not entirely accurate.” The governor’s spokesman added, “I am not at liberty to discuss details on personnel matters.”
JP Morgan declined to comment on the lawsuit and has not yet responded to allegations.
