JPMorgan Chase executives joked about seeing Jeffrey Epstein surrounded with “nymphettes” at one of his homes, according to fresh allegations by the US Virgin Islands.
The territory, which is suing JPMorgan for at least $190m for allegedly turning a blind eye to Epstein’s sex trafficking, revealed the private messages in new court filings on Monday night.
In a 2012 message to Mary Erdoes, now JPMorgan’s head of asset and wealth management, an executive describes attending an event at the home of another client.
“Reminded me of JE's house, except it was more tasteful, and fewer nymphettes,” the executive writes. “More like the Frick [museum]. Art was fabulous.”
“Wow,” Ms Erdoes replied.
Other internal messages revealed senior bank executives discussing how Epstein was constantly accompanied by young women.
In a 2006 message, former JPMorgan executive Jes Staley writes to Ms Erdoes: “Last night went to the Huggy Bear concert. The age difference between husbands and wifes [sic] would have fit in well with Jeffrey.”
Ms Erdoes responds: “Oh, and what I meant to tell you about last night was they [sic] were a few people laughing about Jeffrey... One of the guys... apparently has 8 assistants, one is more beautiful than the other... Anyway, lots of comparisons to JE.”
JPMorgan has rejected allegations it was complicit in Epstein’s offending and tried to shift blame for his crimes onto high-ranking USVI officials. They have claimed in court that the USVI shielded him from accountability while giving him tax breaks and “reaping the benefits of his wealth”.
Jeffrey Epstein appears in court in West Palm Beach, Fla., July 30, 2008.— (AP)
In a counter-filing on Monday, JPMorgan accused the US Virgin Islands of providing visas for Epstein’s victims and “looking the other way” when he arrived on the territory with young women and underage girls.
It previously named Cecile de Jongh, the wife of former USVI governor John de Jongh, as Epstein’s “primary conduit for spreading money and influence throughout the USVI government.”
In the new filing, JPMorgan alleges that former governors de Jongh and Kenneth Mapp, who ruled from 2007 to 2019, allegedly admitted they “never cared to investigate Epstein”.
Current Governor Albert Bryan “turned his attention elsewhere”, even after Epstein was indicted in 2019 on underage sex offences, the bank alleges.
The US Virgin Islands alleges JPMorgan kept Epstein as a client long after he had been convicted of child sex offences due to his immense value to the bank, both as a client and an intermediary to new wealthy clients.
In a separate court filing on Monday, the territory claimed that Epstein introduced Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page to former Mr Staley in 2003. That relationship alone brought in $4bn for the bank, according to one filing.
Epstein was the “biggest revenue producer” for JPMorgan’s Private Bank by 2011, according to the filings.
“Epstein was too big to fail,” the USVI states in the filings.
Jeffery Epstein’s estate on Little Saint James Island in the U. S. Virgin Islands, July 9, 2019— (Associated Press)
The filings note that a compliance officer hired by JPMorgan raised the alarm in 2011 after watching an episode of Law & Order SUV about a fictitious billionaire who trafficked young women for sex.
The bank would eventually cut ties with him in 2013, five years after he was convicted in Florida of sex offences against underage girls.
The new allegations were taken from depositions with JP Morgan executives and hundreds of thousands of pages of internal bank documents turned over to the USVI.
The territory has already forced several JPMorgan executives including CEO Jamie Dimon to sit for depositions.
JP Morgan executives discussed seeing ‘nymphettes’ at Epstein’s home— (AP)
A trial is scheduled for 23 October in the US District Court in Manhattan. The USVI wants the judge to declare before then that JPMorgan participated in Epstein's sex trafficking and obstructed law enforcement.
JPMorgan is also suing Mr Staley, alleging he hid Epstein’s abuse and trafficking to keep the financier as a client. Mr Staley has previously denied wrongdoing, and said he is being scapegoated by the bank.
Last month, JPMorgan reached a $290m settlement with survivors of Epstein’s abuse.
And last week, it was revealed that private equity billionaire Leon Black agreed in January to pay $62.5m to the USVI to be released from potential claims related to its investigation into Epstein.
Epstein was ruled to have taken his own life in a New York prison cell while awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges in 2019.
When contacted by The Independent, JPMorgan declined to comment.
