JP Morgan pays $75 million to settle lawsuits

JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $75 million to settle lawsuits in the US Virgin Islands accusing the bank of helping the late businessman Jeffrey Epstein in sex trafficking.

The largest US bank also reached a secret settlement with Jes Staley, the former head of private banking who was close to Epstein and whom JP Morgan blamed for keeping him as a client of the bank.

According to Reuters, the two settlements were reached four weeks before the scheduled trial, bringing the curtain down on a scandal that affected JP Morgan throughout the year.

The two settlements ended the final parts of major lawsuits over the sexual abuse of women by Epstein, which involved prominent figures such as Britain’s Prince Andrew and powerful business figures.

Epstein was a client of the bank from 1998 until 2013, when the New York-based bank fired him.

The bank said in a statement, “JP Morgan deeply regrets any association with this man, and would not have continued dealing with him if it believed that he was using the bank in any way to commit his heinous crimes.”

The settlement in the US Virgin Islands stipulates that the bank will pay $30 million to support charitable organizations, $25 million to combat human trafficking, and $20 million to lawyers in the region.

Epstein died in August 2019 in a Manhattan prison cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Forensic medicine concluded that his death was the result of suicide.