WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 22: Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co., testifies during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on September 22, 2022 in Washington, DC. The committee held hearings for the annual monitoring of the country’s largest banks. (Photo by Drew Anger / Getty Images)
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JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon In an interview on Thursday, he said he was “so sad” that there was no business relationship with the bank. jeffrey epstein – but denied that the firm is legally liable for the dead hunters sex trafficking,
Dimon also said in a televised interview with Bloomberg that if JPMorgan knew everything that has become public about his ex in recent years. Customer Epstein “We would have done things differently.”
daemon is set to give deposit begins May 26 for civil lawsuits filed in Manhattan federal court by the US government Virgin Islands and an epstein Sexual Exploitation The accuser The suits accuse JPMorgan of enabling and profiting from Epstein’s sex trafficking, which included sending young women to the Virgin Islands to be abused by him and others on his private island.
Court filings this week show details JPMorgan employees shared with each other about keeping Epstein as a client — before the bank terminated its relationship with him.
“I’m very sorry that we had any relationship with that man,” Dimon told Bloomberg on Thursday.
“You know, we had top lawyers evaluating [U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission] enforcement, the [Department of Justice]You know, and obviously, if we knew then what we know today, we would have done things differently.”
“But it’s very unfortunate, and I have the deepest respect for these women,” Dimon said.
“It doesn’t mean that we are responsible for any person’s actions, but I have a deep respect for them, my heart goes out to them,” he said.
Epstein, who was a customer of the bank starting in 1998 and held millions of dollars on deposits, pleaded guilty in 2008 to the state of Florida on charges of having sex with an underage girl. He was sentenced to 13 months in prison.
Despite that conviction, Epstein remained a client of JPMorgan as of 2013.
A mugshot of Jeffrey Epstein issued by the US Department of Justice.
Source: US Department of Justice
JPMorgan has recently tried to shift legal responsibility for its relationship with Epstein to Jess Staley, the former head of investment banking at the firm, who had close contact with Epstein when he was a client.
But in a court hearing in March, a Virgin Islands attorney told Judge Jed Rakoff that “Jamie Dimon knew in 2008 that his billionaire client was a sex trafficker,
“If Staley is a rogue employee, why not Jamie Dimon?” At that hearing, lawyer Mimi Liu said.
“Staley knew, Dimon knew, JPMorgan knew” about Epstein’s criminal conduct, Liu said. “They broke every rule to facilitate Epstein’s sex trafficking in exchange for money, connections and referrals.”
Liu said the bank should have flagged suspicious cash transactions and wire transfers by Epstein, which included sending hundreds of thousands of dollars to multiple women.
At that hearing, a JPMorgan attorney denied that Dimon had any “specific knowledge” about Epstein, and a bank spokesman said that “Jamie Dimon has no recollection of reviewing the Epstein accounts”. “
Epstein killed himself in a New York prison in August 2019, a month after being arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges.
Since then, many of Epstein’s former friends and associates have been among them. Donald Trump, Bill Clinton And Britain’s Prince Andrew has been criticized for his links with hunters.
staley quit CEO of Barclays in November 2021 because of his ties to Epstein.
In court filings for one of the November 2, 2006, lawsuits against JPMorgan, emails made public this week highlight a top bank official’s concerns about Epstein.
The email was sent to Staley on behalf of Ann Borowick, then head of investor relations for JPMorgan, who was then CEO of JPMorgan’s asset management division. The subject line of the message is: “Epstein – Please call me.”
Borowick began the message by asking Staley, who was on a plane to Hong Kong, to call when he could tell her about his team’s upcoming meeting with Epstein.
“Also, after doing a little due diligence I have concerns over risk management with this client,” she wrote. “We have a poor track record on risk internally. … As you know. Is Jeffrey going to stay involved here? How are we managing risk here. Please call. Thx Ann.”
In January 2011, several years after Epstein pleaded guilty in the Florida state case and became a registered sex offender, Maryanne Ryan, a JPMorgan executive director who was a compliance manager, sent an email to Philip DeLuca, the bank’s compliance director. Wrote, in which a comment was made. “Epstein, quick response meeting on shoddy PB [private banking] Customer.”
DeLuca replied, “This is the guy who likes young girls, right? Hope they don’t cave in!!”
A June 2013 email chain between Ryan and DeLuca included an attachment that detailed aspects of the bank’s relationship with Epstein “that were previously forwarded to the PB reputational risk committee.”
The email notes that in July 2008, PB Risk “referred Jeffrey Epstein to AML [Anti-Money Laundering] Checking for excessive cash activity.”
“Similarly, during a review of transaction activity, an open source review of media reports found several negative media articles alleging links between Jeffrey Epstein and prostitution/underage sex trade.”
The copied section of the email said the AML investigation and PB Risk discussed “reaffirming” they documented Epstein’s negative background and “marked him as high risk.” The section notes that in October 2010 the AML investigation “proceeded news stories indicating renewed law enforcement interest in Epstein and requested an expedited response call.”
An email chain with DeLuca orchestrating a rapid response call in January 2011, after which Epstein was again retained as a client, but an agreement was reached that “Katherine Keating and William Langford will not be able to sell Jess Staley”. explained how Epstein’s existential ties could undermine a human trafficking project currently under AML investigation.”
That money-laundering project was led by Langford, who before joining JPMorgan in 2006 was a regulatory policy officer at the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
“Langford noted that he briefed Steven Cutler on the potential press and optics related to maintaining the Epstein connection while leading human trafficking efforts within AML,” the email states.
“No change in retention,” the email ends.
