NEW YORK, USA — JPMorgan Chase has reached a tentative $290 million settlement with sexual abuse victims of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, according to David Boies, a lead lawyer for the victims.
This move comes after several weeks of unflattering revelations about the bank’s long-standing relationship with Epstein.
The proposed settlement is intended to resolve a lawsuit filed in November last year on behalf of victims who were allegedly sexually abused by Epstein over a 15-year period when they were teenage girls and young women.
The number of victims could potentially increase to over 100.
In a joint statement released on Monday, June 12, 2023, the bank and the victims’ lawyers stated they had reached “an agreement in principle to settle” the lawsuit, and the “settlement is in the best interests of all parties, especially the survivors who were the victims of Epstein’s terrible abuse.”
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon recently sat for a day-long deposition in which he claimed to have little knowledge of Epstein before his July 2019 arrest on federal sex trafficking charges. Epstein died by suicide in his Manhattan jail cell a month after his arrest.
JPMorgan is still battling a related lawsuit by the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands, the biggest outstanding Epstein-related case following years of lawsuits against Epstein’s estate and Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction in 2021 for assisting Epstein in sex trafficking.
The lawsuit against JPMorgan alleges that the bank ignored multiple warnings about Epstein’s sex trafficking activities. Despite Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea in a Florida case for soliciting prostitution from a teenage girl, and despite his registration as a sex offender, the bank continued to value Epstein as a wealthy client who could provide access to an even wealthier network.
JPMorgan provided banking services for Epstein from approximately 1998 to 2013, a period when victims and federal authorities claim some of the worst misconduct occurred.
The bank expressed regret on Monday over its association with Epstein, referring to his actions as “heinous crimes.”
Last month, a $75 million settlement was tentatively negotiated with Deutsche Bank, which had taken over as Epstein’s primary banker after JPMorgan. Deutsche Bank paid a $150 million fine to New York regulators in 2020 over allegations of inadequate monitoring of its financial dealings with Epstein, among other compliance failures.
Both settlements await approval from Judge Jed Rakoff of Federal District Court in Manhattan, who is also presiding over the related lawsuit by the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Virgin Islands alleges that JPMorgan enabled Epstein to establish a sex trafficking operation on his private island off St. Thomas. JPMorgan has strongly opposed the lawsuit, claiming that local government officials maintained close relationships with Epstein for nearly two decades.
The proposed settlement with JPMorgan was considered a “great day for Jeffrey Epstein survivors” by lawyer David Boies, while Brad Edwards, another lawyer for the victims, felt that the deal went a long way toward achieving “full justice” for Epstein’s victims.
The settlements with Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan will add to the total compensation received by Epstein’s victims in recent years.
His estate has already paid about $150 million to over 125 victims — many of whom may be eligible to apply for additional compensation from the settlements with the banks.
