By: Mario Mancini

On Friday, a judge denied the request to question JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon for a second time regarding the bank’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender, NY Post reported.

The US Virgin Islands has sought damages from JPMorgan, accusing the bank of assisting Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring by keeping him as a client and disregarding red flags. The Virgin Islands had requested to depose Dimon, another current bank employee, and a former worker, but the judge denied the request.

Dimon previously underwent a two-day deposition on May 26-27, where he testified under oath about his connections to Epstein. He claimed that he had no dealings with Epstein and was unaware that Epstein was a JPMorgan client until his arrest in 2019. However, former JPMorgan CEO Jes Staley contradicted Dimon’s statement, leading to Staley being deposed again over the weekend.

In March, the judge ordered JPMorgan to provide documents related to Dimon from 2015 to 2019, the period after the bank severed ties with Epstein. The bank produced a summary of emails exchanged between Staley and Epstein, but it was provided after the initial depositions. The Virgin Islands requested another round of questioning based on this new information.

Despite the denial to question Dimon again, the Virgin Islands believes it has sufficient evidence to support its claim that the bank turned a blind eye to evidence of human trafficking on Epstein’s property. Attorneys for the Virgin Islands argue that Dimon may have relevant information regarding the bank’s decision to continue servicing Epstein and his alleged referrals of wealthy clients.

JPMorgan ended its relationship with Epstein in 2013, more than a decade after he first opened accounts at the bank. The court documents filed in 2009 allege that JPMorgan knowingly ignored red flags about Epstein’s activities and profited from his sex-trafficking venture by attracting other wealthy clients to the bank.

Internal bank documents revealed that Epstein regularly made substantial cash withdrawals from his JPMorgan accounts, totaling over $750,000 per year. The US Virgin Islands maintains that JPMorgan failed to take appropriate action despite the evidence of Epstein’s criminal activities.

The case continues, with the Virgin Islands issuing subpoenas to individuals such as Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Elon Musk, and Thomas Pritzker to gather more information about Epstein’s alleged referrals and connections.

JPMorgan last week agreed to settle a similar lawsuit brought by Epstein victims for $290 million. The U.S. Virgin Islands lawsuit is scheduled for an Oct. 23 trial in Manhattan federal court, Reuters reported.

In new developments Reuters reported:

Dimon may have ordered a 2019 review of the bank’s relationship with the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the U.S. Virgin Islands said. Internal emails show that following Epstein’s July 2019 arrest on sex trafficking charges, JPMorgan conducted a review known as “Project Jeep” that included emails between Epstein and Jes Staley, a former friend and JPMorgan private banking chief.

That summary “was prepared as part of Project Jeep, which the documents suggest may have been ordered by Dimon himself, not by the legal department and not in relation to any pending or anticipated litigation,” the U.S. Virgin Islands said.