JPMorgan Chase agreed on Tuesday to pay the US Virgin Islands $75 million to settle a lawsuit alleging the Wall Street behemoth enabled Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring by “knowingly” ignoring red flags related to Epstein’s accounts at the investment bank.
The historic settlement, which marks the first enforcement action filed against a bank for profiting from human trafficking, comes just one month before JPMorgan and USVI were set to go to trial in Manhattan.
“As part of the settlement, JPMorgan has agreed to implement and maintain meaningful anti-trafficking measures, which will help prevent human trafficking in the future,” USVI Attorney General Smith said in a press release.
JPMorgan didn’t admit any wrongdoing as part of the agreement, which will see $30 million contributed to USVI-based charitable organizations and $25 million paid to enhance the USVI’s infrastructure and law enforcement.
“The firm deeply regrets any association with this man, and would never have continued doing business with him if it believed he was using the bank in any way to commit his heinous crimes,” JPMorgan said in a statement.
An agreement was also reached with Jes Staley, a former executive at the bank, who JPMorgan sued earlier this year for allegedly failing to disclose information about Epstein’s abusive regime to his bosses.
The terms of JPMorgan’s agreement with Staley are confidential.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
