JPMorgan Chase is suing a former executive at the bank who is alleged to have “personally observed” convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein assault a sex trafficking victim and then failing to disclose the information to his bosses, according to court papers.
Jes Staley, the former CEO of Barclays, should personally be held liable for any damages that JPMorgan Chase will have to pay out as part of two other lawsuits against the banking giant filed by one of Epstein’s alleged victims and the US Virgin Islands, according to court papers.
An unidentified woman known as Jane Doe in court papers has alleged that JPMorgan “knowingly” received benefits and profited from Epstein’s sex-trafficking venture.
JPMorgan has denied the allegations.
JPMorgan Chase now says in documents filed in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday that Staley should be on the hook for damages incurred by the bank as a result of litigation related to the Epstein case.
JPMorgan wants Staley to pay back wages that he earned “from at least 2006 through 2013” — the years during which Epstein “sexually abused Jane Doe 1 on a number of occasions in New York, Florida, New Mexico, and the United States Virgin Islands,” according to the court filing.
“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.
Staley’s lawyer didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Staley has previously denied involvement in Epstein’s sex-trafficking.
Staley, who served as JPMorgan’s head of its asset management unit as well as CEO of the bank’s corporate and investment banking division, is named in a lawsuit filed by the US Virgin Islands and Jane Doe against the bank.
Those lawsuits claim JPMorgan should have seen evidence of Epstein’s sex trafficking and knowingly benefited from it.
The US Virgin Islands alleges that JPMorgan “knowingly facilitated, sustained, and concealed the human trafficking network operated by Jeffrey Epstein from his home and base in the Virgin Islands, and financially benefited from this participation, directly or indirectly, by failing to comply with federal banking regulations…,” according to court documents.
JPMorgan Chase, which has denied the claims, has asked a judge to toss the US Virgin Islands’ complaint “because it is without legal merit,” according to court papers.
Previous lawsuits have shown Staley and Epstein exchanged hundreds of emails and text messages over the years, and they were seen to have a close relationship that went beyond the professional relationship a banker would have with a wealthy client.
A JPMorgan spokesperson told The Post: “While the conduct Jeffrey Epstein was accused of is despicable, the lawsuits against JPMorgan Chase are misplaced and without merit.”
“The plaintiffs have made troubling allegations concerning the conduct of our former employee Jes Staley, and if true he should be held responsible for his actions,” the bank’s spokesperson told The Post.
“At the time, we could not have imagined any of our employees would engage in the type of conduct alleged.”
“We expect all of our employees at every level of the firm act with honesty and integrity,” the bank said.
“If these allegations against Jes Staley are true, he violated this duty by putting his own personal interests ahead of the company’s.”
Staley, who came under scrutiny for his ties to Epstein, resigned as CEO of Barclays in November 2021.
Barclays suspended millions of dollars in bonuses and awards that it was planning to give to Staley.
The Post has sought comment from Barclays.
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 on Aug. 10 of that year, at age 66. A medical examiner ruled his death a suicide.
With Post wires
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
