JPMorgan Chase on Monday reached a settlement with a group of women who were sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein, and will pay US$290 million, according to media reports, as the company continues to face off in legal complications over claims it knowingly assisted and supported the deceased financier’s sex trafficking ring.
Key facts
The settlement with Jane Doe, an anonymous woman who brought an individual and class action suit against the bank in November 2022, is still subject to court approval, according to a Monday statement from the company and the victims’ lawyers.
The proposed deal is “in the best interest of all parties,” the statement said, which includes “dozens” of victims who were abused by Epstein as young women or teenage girls during a roughly 13-year period starting around 2000, per the lawsuit.
Forbes US reached out to the lawyers involved in the deal to confirm the $290 million USD settlement amount, which was reported by the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
Key background
The lawsuit was filed in a Manhattan federal court in tandem with a second suit against Deutsche Bank in November 2022. Both banks held accounts for Epstein—he was a client at JPMorgan from 1998 to 2013 and at Deutsche from 2013 to 2018, shortly before he died by suicide in prison while awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges.
The suit alleges JPMorgan continued to provide banking for Epstein despite being aware he was breaking the law because the bank allegedly knew it “would earn millions of dollars from facilitating Epstein’s sex abuse and trafficking.” The bank has said its relationship with Epstein was “a mistake,” which it regrets, but has not admitted any wrongdoing.
What to watch for
JPMorgan is still involved in litigation with the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned two private islands, and with Jes Staley, a former JPMorgan executive who served as CEO of the bank’s asset management division from 2001 to 2009.
In a suit filed in December, the Virgin Islands alleges JPMorgan obstructed federal law enforcement who were pursuing Epstein and that Staley and current CEO Jamie Dimon knew about Epstein’s sex trafficking as early as 2008. It also claims the bank received referrals for other high-value customers, like Tesla CEO Elon Musk, from Epstein.
JPMorgan made a counterclaim against the Islands in May, alleging they were “complicit in the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein.” In March, JPMorgan sued Staley in an attempt to hold him solely responsible for any claims against the bank in relation to Epstein.
In the suit, JPMorgan says if it is found responsible for any damages in the lawsuit with Doe, “it is entitled to recover the entire amount of any damages from Staley.” Staley lost a bid to dismiss the suit in May, and CEO Dimon repeatedly said during a deposition he had no knowledge of Epstein’s doings.
This story was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
