Emails exchanged between JPMorgan & Chase Co. executive Jes Staley and Jeffrey Epstein fail to show that minors were victimized or that “force, fraud or coercion” were used against women, the bank said in court filing asking a judge to dismiss a U.S. Virgin Islands lawsuit.
JPMorgan said in a Wednesday filing in Manhattan federal court that those were necessary elements of the crime of sex-trafficking, which the USVI claims the bank is liable for facilitating by ignoring red flags and providing banking services to Epstein. Some of the late financier’s abuse allegedly took place at his private island estate in the territory.
The USVI last week unsealed contents of emails between Staley, then head of private banking at JPMorgan, and Epstein in which they appeared to be discussing young women. According to the USVI, they show Staley knew Epstein was engaged in sexual misconduct and JPMorgan therefore knew as well.
Staley, who is not a defendant in the case, has denied knowledge of Epstein’s abuse, and his lawyer last week declined to comment on the emails.
JPMorgan said on Wednesday that though the emails show that “inappropriate personal conversations” took place, they don’t prove that any illegal conduct did and “provide no basis to infer that Staley detected Epstein’s sex-trafficking.”
The bank slammed the USVI suit as providing an “inaccurate and salacious telling of events.” JPMorgan has previously called the claims a “masterclass in deflection,” pointing out that the territory failed to act against Epstein in a law enforcement capacity and instead gave him favorable tax treatment.
Part of the USVI suit alleges violations of the territory’s racketeering law. JPMorgan on Wednesday called those claims “impermissibly extraterritorial.”
“USVI’s attempt to hold JPMC accountable under USVI law for JPMC’s actions in New York — on the theory that JPMC’s client, Epstein, unilaterally decided to spend time in USVI — disregards the limits of USVI’s legislative jurisdiction,” the bank said.
According to JPMorgan, USVI also failed to establish that Staley’s travel to Epstein’s private island or his use of work emails fell within the scope of his employment at the bank.
Staley, who left JPMorgan in 2013 and became chief executive officer of Barclays Plc two years later, was known to have exchanged upward of 1,200 emails with Epstein over the years, but their contents were not previously disclosed before last week. Staley stepped down as Barclays CEO in 2021 following a UK Financial Conduct Authority probe into his ties with Epstein.
Epstein was a customer of JPMorgan between 1998 and 2013 and held about 55 accounts, containing hundreds of millions of dollars, USVI says. At least 20 individuals paid through JPMorgan accounts were “victims of trafficking and sexual assault in Little St James,” according to the lawsuit.
