JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $75 million to settle a civil lawsuit from the US Virgin Islands over claims that it facilitated Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation, the bank announced in a statement Tuesday.
The financial institution said it would donate $30 million to charitable organizations in the US Virgin Islands that address “social ills, including fighting human trafficking and other sex crimes” and help their survivors. Another $25 million will go toward building up law enforcement on the island, according to the statement.
The funds come on top of the $290 million JPMorgan Chase has already agreed to settle a separate class-action lawsuit brought by Epstein victims, to fund a compensation program. The bank is also paying an additional $20 million in attorney fees.
According to the statement, JPMorgan has also settled legal claims with Jes Staley, the former CEO of Barclays who stepped down in 2021 following revelations about his relationship with Epstein. During an earlier time as a JP Morgan executive, Staley kept close ties with Epstein, exchanging over 1,000 emails, including during a period when Epstein was incarcerated for soliciting sex with a minor.
JPMorgan had sued Staley, alleging he was solely responsible for any liability from the US Virgin Islands’ lawsuit — a claim Staley had denied.
The settlement arrived hours before lawyers for Staley and JP Morgan were scheduled to argue in a Manhattan federal court over the scope of a trial, which a judge set for October. The terms of the settlement with Staley were not disclosed.
The US Virgin Islands had claimed that JP Morgan “pulled the levers” of Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation by running his bank accounts and turning a blind eye to payments that should have raised alarms within the institution.
In pretrial court filings, JP Morgan claimed the US Virgin Islands government was essentially guilty of the same practices. Local politicians, it claimed, had received donations from Epstein and allowed the pedophile to run rampant as law enforcement turned away from red flags.
Epstein killed himself in jail while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges in 2019. His acquaintance Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty of trafficking girls to him for sex in 2021 and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
