JPMorgan suit cites exec’s Epstein ties

Bank lays its liability to former official

JPMorgan Chase & Co. sued its former executive Jes Staley on Wednesday, saying he aided Jeffrey Epstein’s yearslong sex abuse and trafficking to keep the financier as a client.

The New York City bank wants to hold Staley liable for any financial penalties JPMorgan pays out in two related cases. It also wants to force Staley to return wages he earned during the time he is alleged to have been aware of Epstein’s abuse and “personally observed” Epstein’s behavior on multiple occasions.

“In light of Staley’s intentional and outrageous conduct in failing to disclose pertinent information and abandoning ( JPMorgan’s) interests in favor of his own and Epstein’s personal interests, (the bank) is entitled to punitive damages,” the bank said in its lawsuit.

A lawyer for Staley had no comment on the lawsuit.

It was filed after the bank was sued by the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as by a victim identified as Jane Doe, who says she was abused by Epstein. The lawsuits say JPMorgan should have seen evidence of Epstein’s sex trafficking and that the company knowingly benefited from it.

Previous lawsuits have shown Staley and Epstein exchanged hundreds of emails and text messages over the years — some referring to an acquaintance known as “Snow White,” court filings say — and they were seen to have a close relationship that went beyond the professional relationship a banker would maintain with a client.

The bank continues to deny the allegations in its newly filed lawsuit; however, JPMorgan appears to claim Staley committed sexual assault, too.

The bank noted in its lawsuit that Jane Doe described a “powerful financial executive” who used “his clout within JP Morgan to make Epstein untouchable.” The bank says that financial executive was Staley.

Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal charges accusing him of paying underage girls hundreds of dollars in cash for massages, and then molesting them at his homes in Florida and New York.

He was found dead in jail Aug. 10 that year, at age 66. A medical examiner ruled his death a suicide.

Staley left JPMorgan in 2013 to become CEO of London-based bank Barclays. He resigned last year after a report by British regulators of his past links with Epstein.