New legal filings allege JPMorgan Chase knew by 2006 that wealthy financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had been accused of paying cash to have underage girls and young women brought to his home.
According to the Financial Times, Mary Erdoes, who is now the head of asset management at the U.S. bank, said under oath in a recent deposition that JPMorgan knew about the accusations by 2006 — seven years before the American multinational financial services company headquartered in New York City severed ties with Epstein.
“In 2010, JPMorgan compliance officials decided that Epstein ‘should go,’” according to the filings reported by the outlet.
Lawsuits from an unnamed victim of Epstein and the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned his infamous compound on the small private island of Little Saint James, allege that JPMorgan Chase benefited financially from its relationship with the pedophile.
The financier purchased Little St. James in 1998 and owned the property until his death. The island has allegedly hosted former President Bill Clinton and British Prince Andrew — a pilot who formerly worked for Epstein testified that he had seen the two individuals as well as former President Donald Trump and actor Kevin Spacey on the deceased predator’s aircraft.
Last week, Forbes reported JPMorgan Chase executives knew enough about Epstein’s “interest in young girls” they allegedly “joked” about it.
U.S. Virgin Islands officials are seeking damages from JPMorgan, who accuse the financial institution of profiting from human trafficking by maintaining business with Epstein, even after authorities arrested the disgraced financier of procuring a minor for prostitution in Florida in 2006.
JPMorgan Chase has denied that Dimon had knowledge of a review into the firm’s associations with Epstein and rejected the notion that the company benefited from sex trafficking. The company attempted to have the lawsuit dismissed, but a federal judge ruled the case could proceed.
Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer of Chase, told CNN that the financial institution has “some of the best lawyers in the world.”
Dimon, who has led the investment bank since 2005 and is widely considered one of the most powerful executives on Wall Street, will be deposed behind closed doors in May. Another source told the Financial Times that there is no record of direct communications between Dimon and Epstein, who worked with JPMorgan Chase between 1998 and 2013.
The new complaints against the financial institutions come after managers of the Epstein estate agreed to settle a lawsuit with the U.S. Virgin Islands at the end of last year over enforcement actions related to the territory’s laws against fraud, sex trafficking, and child exploitation.
The estate agreed to pay $105 million and half of the proceeds earned from selling the island of Little St. James, which has acquired nicknames such as “Pedophile Island,” and $450,000 to remediate environmental damage around Great St. James, another island owned by Epstein.
Epstein died at 66 in his New York City jail cell in 2019 after being arrested on sex trafficking charges involving young girls.
Ben Zeisloft contributed to this report.