USVI says JPMorgan notified Treasury of more than $1 billion in Jeffrey Epstein ‘human trafficking’ transactions after he died

JPMorgan Chase notified the Treasury Division of greater than $1 billion in transactions associated to “human trafficking” by Jeffrey Epstein courting again 16 years after the infamous intercourse predator killed himself in 2019, a lawyer for the U.S. Virgin Islands advised a federal decide at a listening to.

“Epstein’s whole enterprise with JPMorgan and JPMorgan’s whole enterprise with Epstein was human trafficking,” Mimi Liu, an legal professional for the Virgin Islands, advised Decide Jed Rakoff in U.S. District Courtroom in Manhattan on Thursday, in response to a transcript reviewed by CNBC.

Liu cited the financial institution’s notification to the Treasury Division as she argued that Rakoff ought to concern a abstract judgment in opposition to JPMorgan.

The large financial institution is being sued by the Virgin Islands authorities for allegedly facilitating intercourse trafficking by Epstein of younger girls when he was a JPMorgan buyer from 1998 by way of 2013.

The legal professional, referring to a $9 million block of transfers to girls and suspicious withdrawals from Epstein’s accounts at JPMorgan, stated it associated to “facilitating” greater than 20,000 sexual acts, given Epstein’s behavior of paying a number of hundred {dollars} for every sexual encounter.

“JPMorgan was a full-service financial institution for Jeffrey Epstein’s intercourse trafficking,” Liu stated on the listening to.

“The one motive that JPMorgan after 16 years reported the $1 billion in suspicious transactions was as a result of he was arrested after which he was lifeless,” she stated”This was a CYA [cover your a–] reporting after 16 years of all the monies flowing in his JPMorgan accounts after he was lifeless.

The Virgin Islands has accused the financial institution of continuous to do enterprise with Epstein for years regardless of repeated crimson flags internally and his 2008 responsible plea to a Florida intercourse crime.

“By 2006, the financial institution thus had reams of monetary info associated to Jeffrey Epstein that corroborated his intercourse crimes involving kids,” Liu argued.

Epstein, 66, killed himself in a New York jail in August 2019, a month after he was arrested on federal little one intercourse trafficking costs.

Along with a residence in Manhattan, Epstein owned a personal island within the Virgin Islands, the place he was accused of sexually abusing girls.

A lawyer for JPMorgan, which denies wrongdoing within the case, pushed again in opposition to the Virgin Islands claims that it must be discovered responsible for abetting Epstein’s abuse of girls.

The Virgin Islands is looking for at the very least $190 million in damages within the case, which can go to trial on Oct. 23 if Rakoff doesn’t grant abstract judgment to both aspect.

The financial institution’s lawyer, Felicia Ellsworth, advised Rakoff that the Virgin Islands had offered “not a scintilla” of proof that JPMorgan violated legal guidelines about intercourse trafficking.

Ellsworth additionally argued that the Virgin Islands lacked the authorized standing to sue the financial institution.

JPMorgan has stated the American territory can solely sue to vindicate the rights of residents, and that there is no such thing as a proof that any of Epstein’s victims had been residents of the Virgin Islands.

“There may be hotly disputed testimony and proof,” Ellsworth advised Rakoff.

“There may be, as I stated, testimony from JPMorgan present and former workers disclaiming information” of Epstein’s felony conduct,” she stated.

A JPMorgan spokeswoman declined to remark to CNBC concerning the Virgin Islands’ claims that the financial institution notified the Treasury Division of greater than a $1 billion in suspicious transactions by Epstein.

JPMorgan in July agreed to pay $290 million in a settlement with victims of Epstein to resolve the same lawsuit filed by one of many accusers in Manhattan federal courtroom.

In June, Deutsche Financial institution, which had taken Epstein on as a shopper after he was compelled out by JPMorgan in 2013, agreed to pay $75 million to Epstein’s victims to settle a 3rd go well with in the identical courtroom.