J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. was reportedly aware that the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein was paying underage girls to be brought to his home, years before he was convicted in 2008, according to a lawsuit filing released on Wednesday.
The court filing is part of an amended lawsuit filing initially brought last year by the U.S. Virgin Islands in a Manhattan Federal Court against the bank. The lawsuit alleges that J.P. Morgan JPM, -0.02% failed to monitor Epstein’s transactions associated with his alleged sex trafficking and accused the bank of facilitating his crimes.
J.P. Morgan Chase did not immediately respond to MarketWatch’s request for comment and did not comment to The Wall Street Journal. The bank has denied that it aided Epstein.
The new filing alleged that the J.P. Morgan Rapid Response Team had internally raised the alarm in 2006 that Epstein was “routinely” making withdrawals, from $ 40,000 to $ 80,000 several times per month, totaling over $ 750,000 per year. Banks must file suspicious activity reports on large transactions. The lawsuit alleges that the bank failed to do so.
The filing says that senior executive and head of asset and wealth management Mary Erdoes admitted in a deposition that the bank was “aware by 2006 that Epstein was accused of paying cash to have underage girls and young women brought to his home.”
Epstein pled guilty to solicitation of prostitution with a minor in 2008, where he spent 13 months in prison with work release.
J.P. Morgan continued to keep Epstein as a customer until it terminated his accounts in early 2013.
The filing also said Epstein’s interest in young girls was so notorious at the bank that senior executives would joke about it.
