JPMorgan has granted access to Manhattan prosecutorial records in the Epstein case

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JPMorgan Chase can review documents from Manhattan prosecutors related to the litigation around its decision to keep Jeffrey Epstein as a client, a New York judge ruled Friday, including any potential sexual abuse allegations involving former executive Jes Staley.

The US lender first sued the Manhattan District Attorney’s office earlier this month, seeking any statements made by any “individual that identifies James ‘Jes’ Staley as an alleged witness or alleged perpetrator of any sexual abuse, sexual abuse or other sex-related crimes”.

The bank is suing Staley, seeking to hold him liable for damages it may have to pay in connection with two lawsuits filed against JPMorgan by an Epstein accuser and the U.S. Virgin Islands, where the late sex offender once had a home. The accuser’s case alleges that Staley raped her and witnessed her being abused by Epstein. Staley vehemently denied the allegations, calling them “slanderous.”

The order from Judge Jed Rakoff, who is overseeing the cases in federal court in Manhattan, came hours after JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon reportedly began answering questions under oath about his knowledge of Epstein’s crimes. as a legal showdown over the bank’s decision to retain him as a client has reached the highest echelons of Wall Street.

THE sworn testimony, which the largest US lender had tried to prevent, marks a significant escalation in two high-profile cases about JPMorgan’s 15-year relationship with Epstein, which embarrassed some current and former executives and shed a light unflattering on the bank’s internal compliance processes. The deposition will take place behind closed doors and will last up to two days.

Dimon’s The name has already surfaced in contentious litigation, with lawsuits against JPMorgan being filed towards the end of last year. He was quoted in an internal email expressing concern about Epstein, containing the words “pending review by Dimon.”

Mary Erdoes, a senior JPMorgan executive, told lawyers in a sworn deposition in March that Dimon was solely responsible for overseeing Staley, who has been at the bank for decades and for a time managed the relationship with Epstein, according to people familiar with the matter. JPMorgan’s lawsuit against Staley alleges he misled the bank about Epstein’s misdeeds.

In a statement, JPMorgan said its boss has never met Epstein, “talked to him, [or] emails with him, and was not involved in any decisions about his account.” The bank added, “The plaintiffs know this based on decades of discoveries and millions of emails. . . yet they persist in the pursuit of publicity.”

Yet the cases remain one of the few stains on the notebook longtime manager. He recently announced a nearly $16 billion spending spree at JPMorgan, was at the forefront of Wall Street’s lobbying efforts for a US debt ceiling deal to avoid default, and picked up First Republic, a lender failed, in a government-led auction.

JPMorgan first took on Epstein as a client in 1998 and continued to cash him in until 2013.

Dimon is expected to testify that he was unaware of the multiple internal red flags raised about Epstein’s accounts. However, the cases have raised questions about the robustness of the bank’s controls more generally.

“It’s actually not good news if Dimon didn’t know about it,” said a person familiar with the bank’s organizational structure. “If no one has ever approached him in about a decade that he’s been banking [Epstein] when they learned of his conduct and when it was made public, this is perhaps even worse news.

JPMorgan called Epstein’s plan “monstrous” and expressed regret for having him as a client. “In hindsight, any association with [Epstein] it was a mistake . . . but we did not help him commit his heinous crimes.”

Last week, Deutsche Bank settled separate Epstein-related claims for $75 million, which will be shared among dozens of women.

The stakes for JPMorgan may soon be even higher. As Dimon is deposed on Friday, a New York federal judge will hear arguments from representatives of Epstein’s accusers, who argue that dozens, if not hundreds of women should be eligible for compensation from the bank they accuse of profiting from human trafficking. .

On the eve of Dimon’s deposition, JPMorgan fired back at the U.S. Virgin Islands, arguing in court that territory officials had turned a blind eye to Epstein’s crimes and had even issued visas to some of his victims.

“Epstein could have lived anywhere in the world. He chose USVI,” JPMorgan’s lawyers said. “They protected it and even rewarded it by granting it [millions of dollars] in tax incentives. . . looking the other way when he passed through the USVI airports accompanied by girls and young women ”.

In response, the U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General’s Office said the allegations were “a clear attempt to shift blame from JPMorgan Chase, which had a legal responsibility to expose the evidence in its possession of Epstein’s human trafficking , and he didn’t.” .

Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to a Florida state charge of soliciting a minor for prostitution. More than a decade later he was charged by federal prosecutors with sex trafficking and died by suicide in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial.