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Banking Giant JPMorgan Chase Had Bigger Ties to Epstein Than Previously Known: Report

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s connections to Jeffrey Epstein were more significant than what the bank had previously disclosed publicly, according to sources who also claimed that these connections continued for several years after the bank closed Epstein’s accounts, despite his conviction as a sex offender.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that insiders told the news outlet that Mary Erdoes, a high-ranking executive who reports to CEO Jamie Dimon, visited Jeffrey Epstein’s residence on Manhattan’s Upper East Side twice, in 2011 and 2013, while Epstein was still a client of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The report noted further:

John Duffy, who ran JPMorgan’s U.S. private bank for the ultrarich, went to Epstein’s townhouse for a meeting in April 2013, the people said. One month later, the private bank renewed an authorization allowing Epstein to borrow money against his accounts despite repeated warnings from compliance staffers about his unusual banking practices.

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Justin Nelson, one of Epstein’s bankers at JPMorgan, had about a half-dozen meetings at Epstein’s townhouse between 2014 and 2017, the people said. He also traveled to Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico in 2016, the people said. 

“JPMorgan has said it closed Epstein’s accounts in 2013. Ms. Erdoes has previously said through a JPMorgan spokesman that the only time she remembered meeting Epstein was the day she fired him as a client of JPMorgan’s private bank. Ms. Erdoes declined to comment for this article,” the report continued.

Epstein had previously been convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008, which led to him registering as a sex offender. He was arrested again in 2019 and accused of orchestrating a plan to traffic and then sexually abuse underage girls.

The recent revelations indicate that JPMorgan was treating Jeffrey Epstein as a highly valued client even after his first conviction, despite repeated warnings from its own employees. Moreover, after the bank terminated Epstein’s accounts, its bankers continued to meet with him for several years, the WSJ reported.

JPMorgan’s connections to Jeffrey Epstein once again come under scrutiny due to a pair of lawsuits filed against the bank in late 2022 in a federal court in Manhattan.

Epstein, who was awaiting trial on the sex-trafficking charges, died in a New York jail in 2019, which was ruled a suicide by the city’s medical examiner. The lawsuits were brought by a woman who accused Epstein of sexual abuse and by the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned a private island getaway. Both lawsuits allege that the bank was involved in moving money that was used to pay off Epstein’s alleged victims.

In February, explosive information surfaced regarding former JPMorgan executive Jes Staley’s relationship with Epstein.

Unsealed portions of a federal lawsuit reveal that Staley and Epstein exchanged roughly 1,000 emails between 2008 and 2012, including an odd exchange referencing Disney characters, Fox News reported.

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The unsealed passages also reveal that women were trafficked and abused during different intervals between at least 2003 and July 2019, and received payments totaling over $1 million collectively between 2003 and 2013. The lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase also details that Epstein withdrew more than $775,000 in cash from JPMorgan accounts and was known to pay for sexual encounters with cash.

“These women were trafficked and abused during different intervals between at least 2003 and July 2019, when Epstein was arrested and jailed, and these women received payments, typically multiple payments, between 2003 and 2013 in excess of $1 million collectively,” according to the unsealed passages.

In detailing the lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase, the U.S. Virgins Islands noted: “Epstein also withdrew more than $775,000 in cash over that time frame from JPMorgan accounts.” The suit also notes that “Epstein was known to pay for ‘massages,’ or sexual encounters, in cash.”

Epstein was first accused of sexual misconduct in 2005 when a 14-year-old girl claimed that he had molested her. A subsequent investigation by the FBI led to additional allegations of sexual abuse and trafficking, including the recruitment of underage girls for sexual purposes. Epstein eventually pleaded guilty to charges of soliciting prostitution and was sentenced to 13 months in jail in 2008, a sentence that many have criticized as too lenient.

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