The top prosecutor in the U.S. Virgins Islands lost her job days after suing a major investment bank for allegedly turning a “blind eye” to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Governor Albert Bryan (D-VI) announced the firing of Attorney General Denise George in a brief statement.
“I relieved Denise George of her duties as attorney general this weekend,” Bryan said in a statement. “I thank her for her service to the people of the territory during the past four years as attorney general and wish her the best in her future endeavors.”
Though the governor did not provide a reason for the ouster, The Virgin Islands Consortium cited sources who said Bryan was increasingly frustrated with George, and her suing the bank, JPMorgan Case, without informing him was the final straw.
George filed the federal lawsuit in Manhattan last week, accusing JPMorgan of failing to report suspicious financial activity by its client Epstein at his U.S. Virgins Islands villa on St. James Island while benefiting financially from a sex trafficking operation.
JPMorgan declined to comment when the news broke. With George fired, it was not immediately clear what would happen to the lawsuit, which seeks Epstein-tied profits from the bank as well as penalties and damages.
The lawsuit came less than a month after George settled a sex trafficking case against Epstein’s estate and co-defendants for over $105 million. In late November, two anonymous women who were allegedly trafficked by Epstein filed suit against JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, claiming they were “complicit” in his crimes.”
Epstein, a wealth financier and convicted sex offender, died in his jail cell in 2019 after being arrested on sex trafficking charges involving teenage girls. A New York City medical examiner determined he died by suicide.