JPMorgan executives point fingers over Jeffrey Epstein, documents show

However in keeping with materials learn into the file in the course of the questioning of Dimon, Cutler in his personal Could 24 deposition stated the 2 executives who led JPMorgan’s asset and wealth administration division, Jes Staley and Mary Erdoes, had been answerable for eradicating Epstein. And Erdoes in her deposition in March stated the financial institution retained Epstein as a result of Staley vouched for him.

The U.S. Virgin Islands is suing JPMorgan, arguing that in doing enterprise with Epstein, the financial institution facilitated his operation of a sprawling little one sex-trafficking ring.

JPMorgan has rejected the allegations as meritless and expressed remorse for its previous affiliation with Epstein. “Had the Agency believed he was engaged in an ongoing intercourse trafficking operation, Epstein wouldn’t have been retained,” JPMorgan spokeswoman Patricia Wexler stated in a press release.

The financial institution, in flip, has sued Staley, accusing him of performing on his personal to advance Epstein’s pursuits. Staley has denied these claims, and in authorized filings he has argued that JPMorgan is attempting to “deflect blame” onto him.

Cutler, Erdoes, Staley and Dimon himself, all had the authority to behave unilaterally to take away Epstein, Dimon stated in his deposition.

Dimon stated he was not aware of Epstein — a outstanding JPMorgan consumer, a cash supervisor for different purchasers and a determine who tried to solicit new enterprise for the financial institution — “till the tales [about his trafficking ring] broke someday in 2019.”

That yr, Epstein was arrested on federal expenses of kid intercourse trafficking. He died in jail days after his arrest. A New York medical expert dominated the demise a suicide.

Requested whether or not he thought the financial institution owed Epstein’s victims an apology, Dimon stated that he “wouldn’t thoughts” giving a private apology, however that he believes the financial institution dedicated no crime and shouldn’t be held answerable for Epstein’s actions.

“Any potential factor, what little function that we may have eased it or helped catch it faster or one thing like that, or get it to regulation enforcement faster or get regulation enforcement to react to it faster … I’d apologize to them for that,” Dimon stated.

When a financial institution has ties to somebody accused of wrongdoing, it raises questions on accountability, stated Eric Chaffee, a professor on the College of Toledo School of Legislation.

“Hindsight is 20/20, however there have been a whole lot of purple flags,” Chaffee stated. “When that occurs, you’ll be able to find yourself with folks pointing fingers.”

A transcript of a March 15 deposition given by Erdoes confirmed she had been alerted not less than six instances between 2006 and 2013 of the financier’s felony or civil authorized hassle for intercourse crimes. She had additionally been knowledgeable as early as 2006 that JPMorgan flagged suspicious exercise on his accounts.

Officers from the U.S. Virgin Islands and attorneys for his victims declare the financial institution was complicit in funding Epstein’s lengthy historical past of abuse and little one intercourse trafficking. A grievance filed final month by the U.S. Virgin Islands, the place Epstein owned a non-public island and gaudy mansion, cites Erdoes’s deposition as proof that JPMorgan knew of accusations towards Epstein years earlier than the financial institution severed ties with him.

“What has develop into clear is that Epstein couldn’t have run his intercourse trafficking operation with out the dear help of JP Morgan Chase,” Bradley Edwards, an legal professional for Epstein’s victims, stated in a press release to The Submit. “Conveniently, every banker factors a finger on the different, claiming this sizzling potato was another person’s fault. Regardless how unbelievable the finger-pointing or purported lack of expertise is, accountability rests with the financial institution.”

Dimon in his nine-hour deposition stated JPMorgan had information of suspicious exercise by Epstein as early as 2007, although different data referenced in authorized filings and depositions present some senior financial institution executives had been knowledgeable a yr earlier than.

In 2011, Cutler, a former Securities and Trade Fee legal professional who left JPMorgan in 2018, wrote in an e-mail to Staley, Erdoes and two different executives that the financial institution ought to finish its relationship with Epstein.

“This isn’t an honorable individual in any manner. He shouldn’t be a consumer,” wrote Cutler, who didn’t reply to a request for remark.

Epstein remained a JPMorgan consumer till 2013, when Erdoes ended the financial institution’s relationship with him at a gathering at his New York mansion, she stated in her March deposition. The financial institution recognized Epstein’s routine and large money withdrawals — transactions it had identified about for seven years — as the rationale for terminating the connection, she stated.

Since Dimon grew to become CEO in 2006, JPMorgan has develop into the biggest non-state-owned financial institution on the planet, in keeping with S&P World, and Dimon has develop into probably the most high-profile figures within the monetary business. In an interview printed earlier Friday with Bloomberg, he alluded to an curiosity in political workplace.

“I really like my nation, and perhaps someday I’ll serve my nation in a single capability or one other,” he stated, when requested about electoral curiosity.