An ex-JPMorgan Chase executive testified in London court that Jeffrey Epstein knew more about what was going on at the top levels of the bank than he did.
Jes Staley — who went on to become chief executive of Barclays following his stint at JPMorgan — claimed that Epstein, the convicted child sex offender and disgraced financier who died in prison in 2019, had a “remarkable ability” to gather Wall Street intel, according to a Bloomberg report.
“Mr. Epstein was also well connected within the upper levels of JPMorgan itself,” Staley said during his second day in the witness box as he appealed a proposed ban and $2.3 million fine from London’s financial regulatory agency.
“He seemed to be aware of things relating to the bank, that I was not aware of,” Staley added.
Staley – who is attempting to overturn a lifetime ban that the Financial Conduct Authority announced in 2023 – acknowledged his relationship with Epstein went beyond work.
“It was founded on a business relationship,” the former Barclays boss said. “He became a friend.”
He said Epstein told him about his own departure from JPMorgan before he even knew about it.
“The bank was more important to him than the other way around,” Staley said.
JPMorgan Chase officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
In 2000, JPMorgan’s then-chief executive Douglas “Sandy” Warner told Staley he should get to know Epstein, Staley claimed in his witness statement.
“Sandy Warner recommended that I should become acquainted with Mr. Epstein because he was an exceptionally well connected man who could help me, in my capacity at JPM, to form business relationships with influential and other well connected individuals,” he said.
Staley claimed he was not the only high-level figure at JPMorgan in touch with Epstein.
“I have no doubt, as a result of knowledge of the financial services industry, that a number of senior investment bankers at JPM and at other institutions will have engaged in extensive email correspondence with Mr. Epstein and with other clients, without the relationship between them having become a ‘close’ one,” he said in his statement.
Staley said he regrets his relationship with Epstein, who was a major JPMorgan client, and claimed he was unaware of the serial pedophile’s “abhorrent” behavior.
“If I was aware of his monstrous activities, I would not have maintained a relationship, and I was not aware,” he said in court.
But the FCA said that JPMorgan, Staley’s employer for more than 30 years, told British regulators days before they launched their investigation that it believed Staley might have been involved in Epstein’s crimes.
The major Wall Street firm told the FCA that it had information that “indicated involvement of Mr. Staley in criminal activity related to Mr. Epstein’s trafficking convictions,” according to Mark Steward, the agency’s former head of enforcement.
Mary Erdoes, chief executive of JPMorgan’s asset and wealth management division, had desperately sought Epstein’s help as the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme slammed the bank’s clients in 2008, according to court documents filed by the US Virgin Islands in its 2023 suit against JPMorgan, which has been settled.
Erdoes frantically emailed Staley and asked him to call Epstein – who had pleaded guilty to charges of soliciting prostitution from a minor just six months earlier, according to the documents.
Erdoes terminated JPMorgan’s banking relationship with Epstein in 2013, six months after Staley left the bank.
Staley said he believed Erdoes cut ties with Epstein because he had been withdrawing large amounts of cash.
In his witness statement, Staley claimed he had not been informed of the issue during his time at JPMorgan.
But he admitted that was inaccurate during questioning, when the FCA’s lawyer presented a 2011 email from Epstein to Erdoes saying: “jes told me there was [an issue] reg[arding] cash withdrawals.”
Staley is also battling the FCA over a letter sent by Barclays that claimed he was not close with Epstein.
“The letter could have been written better,” Staley said. “I wish it had been handled better; we probably wouldn’t be sitting here.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
