by WorldTribune Staff, April 13, 2023
The risk-management team at JPMorgan had flagged large cash withdrawals made by Jeffrey Epstein years before his conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution, newly filed court documents show.
JPMorgan had reported in 2006 that Epstein “routinely” made cash withdrawals of $40,000 to $80,000 several times a month, the U.S. Virgin Islands said in an amended lawsuit against the bank.
Epstein at the time was withdrawing more than $750,000 a year in cash from the bank, according to the lawsuit.
Epstein was first charged with a sex crime in 2006. He pleaded guilty to solicitation of prostitution with a minor in 2008 and spent about 13 months in prison. JPMorgan continued providing services to Epstein until 2013, when it says it closed his accounts.
In 2019, Epstein died in jail of what authorities said was suicide while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.
What about the powerful people who were part of the Epstein-Maxwell pedophile ring?
Judge Alison Nathan ruled at Manhattan federal court in December 2021 that only a limited amount of material from the contacts in Epstein’s “black book” would be released under seal.
The 97-page book, containing the names and contact details of almost 2,000 people including world leaders, celebrities, and business titans, was published by Gawker in 2015, with some redactions.
The U.S. Virgin Islands lawsuit against JPMorgan, filed late last year in a Manhattan federal court, says the bank facilitated Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking.
Epstein used the JPMorgan bank to pay his victims with cash and wire transfers, transactions that should have raised red flags with the bank, the lawsuit contends.
Banks are required to file suspicious-activity reports on sizable cash withdrawals and transactions that could indicate crimes such as money laundering.
Another lawsuit filed by an unnamed woman who accused Epstein of sexual abuse also accuses JPMorgan of failing to monitor Epstein’s transactions. The cases are running together in Manhattan federal court.
Lawyers have questioned several JPMorgan employees, including Mary Erdoes, the bank’s head of asset and wealth management. “Her deposition hasn’t been released publicly, but Wednesday’s court filing sheds light on its contents,” the Wall Street Journal noted.
Erdoes said in a deposition that JPMorgan executives knew as far back as 2006 that Epstein was accused of paying cash to have underage girls and young women brought to his home, according to the court filing.
Bank employees were so familiar with Epstein’s behavior that it was the subject of jokes, the court filing said. In 2008, the filing says, Erdoes received an email asking whether Epstein was at an event with pop star Miley Cyrus, a minor at the time.
Epstein deposited hundreds of thousands of dollars into the accounts of one known victim and another unnamed “recruiter” after he pleaded guilty in 2008, the U.S. Virgin Islands claimed in its amended lawsuit.
JPMorgan compliance officials began calling for Epstein’s relationship with the bank to be severed in 2010, according to the Wednesday filing.
A senior compliance official in 2011 voiced concerns about extending Epstein a loan in relation to a modeling agency that had been accused of bringing underage girls into the U.S.
The compliance department flagged other payments Epstein made to women, the suit says. One official referred to Epstein as a “Sugar Daddy!”
The bank, according to court papers, was told the cash was being used for fuel and landing fees for Epstein’s private planes. Yet withdrawals continued while Epstein was in prison, the filing said.
JPMorgan has denied that it aided Epstein and has sought to shift the focus to former executive Jes Staley. In a lawsuit against Staley last month, JPMorgan said the former executive “affirmatively misrepresented the true facts of his and Epstein’s personal interactions.”
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Report: JPMorgan bank noted and tolerated Epstein’s behavior for years before closing accounts added by Editor Two on
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