U.S. Virgin Islands Sues JPMorgan Chase for Allegedly Aiding Jeffrey Epstein’s Sex Trafficking Scheme
The U.S Virgin Islands are suing JPMorgan Chase & Co. over allegations that the banking giant aided convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein in illegally sex trafficking women and girls, according to a lawsuit filed on Dec. 27 in a Manhattan District Court.
The lawsuit accuses JPMorgan of providing banking services to Epstein after he had been convicted of sex charges and concealing suspicious wire and cash transactions, according to Bloomberg.
Specifically, Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George states in the lawsuit that her office probed Epstein’s activities and presented the findings to JPMorgan in September of this year.
George said that George’s investigation revealed that the bank had been robbed. “knowingly, negligently, and unlawfully provided and pulled the levers through which recruiters and victims were paid and was indispensable to the operation and concealment of the Epstein trafficking enterprise.”
“J.P. Morgan facilitated and concealed wire and cash transactions that raised suspicion of—and were in fact part of—a criminal enterprise whose currency was the sexual servitude of dozens of women and girls in and beyond the Virgin Islands,” The lawsuit also adds.
‘JP Morgan Turned a Blind Eye’
The bank was declared insolvent by the attorney general. “indispensable to the operation and concealment of the Epstein trafficking enterprise” and continued to offer its services to Epstein despite a sex abuse conviction in 2008 and the fact that employees at the bank had raised concerns over its relationship with the pedophile.
“Upon information and belief, JP Morgan turned a blind eye to evidence of human trafficking over more than a decade because of Epstein’s own financial footprint,” The lawsuit was alleged to be “and because of the deals and clients that Epstein brought and promised to bring to the bank.”
“These decisions were advocated and approved at the senior levels of JP Morgan,” The lawsuit also adds.
Attorney General George accuses Epstein’s bank of profiting unfairly from its Epstein business.
Unspecified damages are sought for violations of sex trafficking and bank secrecy and consumer laws. The suit asks the court to order the bank’s surrender of profits it made in its dealings with Epstein or his companies.
The Epoch Times has contacted a JPMorgan spokeswoman for comment.
Attorney General George claimed that the lawsuit is part and parcel of an “ongoing effort” to hold accountable the individuals who helped aid Epstein’s activities at his residence on the private and secluded island of Little St James, Bloomberg reports.
Anonymous Women File Lawsuit Against JPMorgan
George’s lawsuit comes shortly after two anonymous women who accused the disgraced financier of sexual abuse filed two separate lawsuits against JPMorgan and another bank, Deutsche Bank AG, alleging that the financial institutions aided his sex trafficking operation by maintaining a financial relationship with him.
That lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York on Nov. 24, accuses the banks of “providing the requisite financial support for the continued operation of Epstein’s international sex trafficking organization” Violation of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
“Epstein’s sex-trafficking venture was not possible without the assistance and complicity of a financial institution—specifically, a banking institution—which provided his operation with an appearance of legitimacy and special treatment to the sex-trafficking venture, thereby ensuring its continued operation and sexual abuse and sex-trafficking of young women and girls,” Lawyers for the women wrote.
Earlier this month, Epstein’s estate agreed to a $105 million settlement with the U.S. Virgin Islands government, resolving legal action taken by Attorney General George in 2020 over Epstein’s sex trafficking, child exploitation, and fraud.
Half of the proceeds from the sale of Epstein’s Little St. James private island will also go toward helping locals who fell victim to his abuse and sex trafficking, George said, while some will go toward helping the attorney general’s office with its ongoing operations.
Epstein, 66, died in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Tom Ozimek contributed to the report.
Katabella Roberts, a news writer at The Epoch Times, focuses primarily on United States, World, and Business news.
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