A federal choose mentioned Wednesday that he received’t block JPMorgan’s authorized efforts guilty a former govt of hiding Jeffrey Epstein’s decades-long intercourse abuse to maintain the financier as a shopper.
Choose Jed Rakoff in Manhattan denied requests by legal professionals for the chief, Jes Staley, to toss out claims the financial institution made towards Staley after it was sued final yr by the U.S. Virgin Islands, the place Epstein maintained a residence, and a lady who recognized herself as considered one of Epstein’s victims.
The choose mentioned he’ll clarify his reasoning later in a written resolution.
Staley’s legal professionals had requested in courtroom papers for dismissal of JPMorgan’s claims, saying the financial institution was utilizing Staley as a “public relations protect” by asserting claims with no authorized foundation.
They mentioned Staley had no decision-making authority over Epstein’s accounts and was not alleged to have seen any of the suspicious account exercise that different JPMorgan staff ignored.
Epstein was 66 when he apparently killed himself in a Manhattan federal jail cell the place he was awaiting a federal intercourse trafficking trial after his utility for bail was denied. He had pleaded not responsible to expenses that he sexually abused dozens of ladies, some as younger as 14.
Staley, who labored at JPMorgan from 1979 till January 2013, reported to Jamie Dimon, the financial institution’s president and chairman, after he turned chief govt officer for JPMorgan’s Company and Funding Banking division in 2009, his legal professionals mentioned. Dimon is scheduled to be deposed this week within the Epstein-related litigation.
Staley left JPMorgan to grow to be CEO of London-based financial institution Barclays, although he resigned final yr after British regulators reported his previous hyperlinks to Epstein.
Staley’s legal professionals didn’t instantly return a request for touch upon the choose’s ruling Wednesday.
In lawsuits filed late final yr towards JPMorgan, the U.S. Virgin Islands and a lady who recognized herself in courtroom papers as “Jane Doe” claimed that the financial institution supplied Epstein with giant quantities of money from 1998 by way of August 2013 although it knew about Epstein’s intercourse trafficking practices.
Each lawsuits have been filed after New York state in November enacted a short lived legislation letting grownup victims of sexual abuse to sue others for the abuse they suffered, even when the abuse occurred way back.
JPMorgan, in opposing Staley’s request to be dismissed from the litigation, has known as the lawsuits “misguided” for focusing on the financial institution.
It famous that Jane Doe’s lawsuit talked about Staley 97 occasions and claimed that Staley “knew with none doubt that Epstein was trafficking and abusing ladies” whereas the U.S. Virgin Islands’ lawsuit named him 41 occasions.
“If these allegations are confirmed to be true then Staley should be held accountable for his alleged misconduct and any hurt that conduct triggered to victims and the corporate,” the financial institution’s legal professionals wrote in courtroom papers.
The New York financial institution seeks to carry Staley personally accountable for any monetary penalties JPMorgan might face within the case and likewise seeks to get better again wages Staley earned throughout years when he allegedly knew about Epstein’s abuse.
On Tuesday, JPMorgan filed courtroom papers accusing the federal government of the Virgin Islands with complicity in Epstein’s crimes, saying that authorities officers have been purchased off by Epstein to look the opposite means whereas he used his property to host teenage ladies who have been sexually abused.
A spokesperson from the U.S. Virgin Islands lawyer common’s workplace mentioned Tuesday in an e-mail that JPMorgan was attempting to “shift blame away” from the financial institution, which had a duty to report human trafficking however failed to take action.
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