JPMorgan to pay $75M to settle Jeffrey Epstein-related claims

JPMorgan Chase announced Tuesday that it had reached a $75 million settlement with the U.S. Virgin Islands over claims related to Jeffrey Epstein.

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In a statement, bank officials said $20 million of the settlement would go toward attorneys’ fees, while most of the remaining $55 million would go to local charities and toward helping Epstein’s victims.

“JPMorgan Chase believes this settlement is in the best interest of all parties, particularly for those who can benefit from efforts to combat human trafficking, and for survivors who suffer unimaginable abuse at the hands of these criminals,” company officials said Tuesday.

The financial firm did not admit to liability in the settlement.

Officials in the U.S. Virgin Islands accused JPMorgan Chase of having ignored signs that Epstein — who was a JPMorgan client from 1998 until 2013 — was running a sex trafficking organization because of the money he brought in.

“The firm deeply regrets any association with this man, and would never have continued doing business with him if it believed he was using the bank in any way to commit his heinous crimes,” JPMorgan officials said Tuesday in a statement.

U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Ariel Smith called the settlement a “historic victory for survivors and for state enforcement,” Reuters reported.

“It should sound the alarm on Wall Street about banks’ responsibilities under the law to detect and prevent human trafficking,” she said.

JPMorgan Chase said that an agreement was also reached with former executive Jes Staley, who bank officials said was largely responsible for JPMorgan’s financial relationship with Epstein. The conditions of the agreement were not made public.

Earlier this year, JPMorgan agreed to settle with Epstein’s victims as part of a separate lawsuit. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

In 2019, authorities arrested Epstein after he was accused of sexually abusing and exploiting dozens of girls in Florida and New York.

The 66-year-old died later that year in his jail cell as he was awaiting trial. A medical examiner ruled his death a suicide.