© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: JPMorgan Chase Bank is seen in New York, U.S. March 21, 2023. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs
By Jonathan Stempel
(Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:) on Thursday unveiled new accusations that the U.S. Virgin Islands were complicit in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex crimes, including that a former first lady in the territory applied for student visas to some of the victims of the disgraced financier.
The largest US bank also named Governor Albert Bryan as among government officials who had “close ties” to Epstein, saying that in 2018 he arranged donations from Epstein to schools and little leagues.
JPMorgan brought the charges in a case in federal court in Manhattan, where the US Virgin Islands wants the bank held liable in a civil lawsuit for keeping Epstein as a client from 1998 to 2013, the last five years after he pleaded guilty. of prostitution.
The New York-based bank countered that the territory had “unclean hands” for protecting Epstein, who died in 2019, and giving him millions of dollars in tax breaks in exchange for his “money, advice, influence and favors “.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General’s office called the new charges “a clear attempt to shift responsibility”, repeating an earlier statement. Bryan’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Thursday’s filing was partially redacted, but had fewer redactions than a version filed Tuesday.
JPMorgan is also facing a class action lawsuit brought by women who say Epstein sexually abused them and the bank should have cut ties with him sooner.
Epstein, 66, died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The city medical examiner has ruled Epstein’s death a suicide. Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, is appealing her conviction and 20-year prison sentence for aiding in his sexual abuse.
‘WILL IT WORK FOR YOU?’
Many of JPMorgan’s new charges relate to Cecile de Jongh, whose husband, John de Jongh, served as governor from 2007 to 2015.
The bank called Epstein’s former first lady a “main conduit for money and influence throughout the USVI government” and a “loan partner” in its desire to exploit young women.
Email requests for comment from Cecile and John de Jongh were not immediately acknowledged. Neither is a party to the litigation.
The bank said de Jongh once arranged for Epstein to meet with a local immigration lawyer to help a woman obtain a visa, and asked a local university if three women could get together. register there to obtain student visas.
JPMorgan also said de Jongh managed Epstein’s local businesses throughout her husband’s term as governor, with Epstein paying for their children’s school fees, and worked with Epstein in 2011 when the US Virgin Islands was writing news. sex offender laws.
“This is the suggested language; will it work for you?” de Jongh asked Epstein in a May 2011 email, according to JPMorgan.
The bank’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon, who is not a defendant, is expected to testify under oath in a deposition on Friday. Bryan faces a deposition on June 6.
JPMorgan is separately suing Jes Staley, a former friend of Epstein who once ran his asset management business, to cover losses he may suffer in the other two lawsuits.
The case is Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, US District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 22-10904.