A lawsuit in Federal Court in New York is pitting the government of the US Virgin Islands territory against America’s largest bank, JPMorgan Chase.
The territory is suing the bank for at least $190 million, alleging that it ignored clear ‘red flags’ about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s evidence of sex trafficking, because he was a wealthy and lucrative client.
During the pretrial hearings and motions, an enormous quantity of revelations about the Epstein trafficking ring has emerged, drawing the eyes of the world to this suit set to go to trial in late October.
Now, the latest discovery to his the news was the fact that JPMorgan Chase reported to the Treasury Department more than $1 billion in ‘suspicious’ transactions for the sex predator over 16 years – but they reported it ONLY after Epstein died a suspicious death in prison while awaiting trial.
Daily Mail reported:
“Mimi Liu, a lawyer for the territory, said at a hearing on Thursday in Manhattan federal court that JPMorgan flagged the transactions as suspicious to the Treasury Department after Epstein’s 2019 death.
‘Epstein’s entire business with JPMorgan, and JPMorgan’s entire business with Epstein, was human trafficking’, said Liu as she argued for a summary court judgment in favor of the plaintiffs.”
An attorney for the bank replied that JPMorgan had indeed notified the Treasury Department about Epstein’s transactions several times before his death, including as early as 2002.
Suspicious activity reports are not public, so the various press outlets were not able to verity the veracity of these facts.
JPMorgan has consistently denied knowing that Epstein was running a sex trafficking operation, even though he was a close friend to top executive Jes Staley.
The bank has also accused US Virgin Islands of malfeasance in the matter, using the discovery to demonstrate that top USVI officials gave him tax breaks and waived sex-offender monitoring requirements – in exchange for cash and gifts.
“The USVI attorney Liu mentioned the $1 billion amount, which had not been previously disclosed, in arguing the court should find before the case goes to trial that the bank participated in Epstein’s sex trafficking.
‘JPMorgan was a full service bank for Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking,’ Liu said.”
An October 23 trial is scheduled.
Reuters reported:
“JPMorgan has denied knowing that Epstein was running a sex trafficking operation, and has faulted the territory for having a cozy relationship with him.
Felicia Ellsworth, a lawyer for JPMorgan, said it was not appropriate for the judge to determine the question of the bank’s knowledge before trial, because current and former employees have testified that they were unaware of Epstein’s sex trafficking.
She said JPMorgan notified the Treasury Department at least six times about Epstein’s transactions, including as early as 2002.
[…] That is “the polar opposite of trying to obstruct,” she said.”
An Oct. 23 trial is scheduled.
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