OAN’s Sophia Flores
4:44 PM – Tuesday, September 26, 2023
JPMorgan Chase has reached a settlement with the U.S. Virgin Islands and former executive Jes Stanley. The lawsuit alleged that the bank was aware, helped, and even benefited from Jeffrey Epstein’s trafficking of minors.
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On Tuesday, JPMorgan Chase announced that they will pay $75 million to the territory to settle the lawsuit, which alluded to the fact that the bank facilitated Epstein’s sex trafficking ring.
However, JPMorgan did not admit any fault or wrong doing in the case and reiterated that it “deeply regrets any association” with the disgraced financier.
“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,” bank reps said.
Of the $75 million settlement, $30 million of it will reportedly go to support local charities working to end human trafficking and $25 million will go to efforts to strengthen law enforcement around human trafficking. The last $20 million will be dedicated to legal fees.
U.S. Virgin Islands officials felt content with the settlement, saying it was “in the best interest of all parties.”
The settlement “should sound the alarm on Wall Street about banks’ responsibilities under the law to detect and prevent human trafficking,” said Ariel Smith, the attorney general for the U.S. Virgin Islands. “We are proud to have stood alongside the survivors throughout this litigation, and this settlement reflects our continued commitment to them,” she continued.
Epstein was a client of JP Morgan from 1998 until 2013.
According to the criminal indictment, Epstein ran a sex trafficking enterprise where he paid girls (and possibly boys) as young as 11-years-old to have sex with him and his colleagues between 2002 and 2005.
Epstein also had his own personal employees whose job it was to lure children to his many residences.
Jes Stanley, JP Morgan’s former bank executive, was believed to be friends with Epstein, although the terms of his legal agreement remain confidential.
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