JPMorgan Chase has settled a class action suit from Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse victims.
The victims had accused the bank of enabling sex trafficking by the deceased financier when he was a client.
A joint statement from the nation’s largest bank and attorneys for the victims said they “have informed the court that they have reached an agreement in principle to settle the putative class action lawsuit related to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes.” The agreement is subject to court approval, and the amount of the settlement was not disclosed.
The bank and the victims’ lawyers said the settlement is in the best interests of all parties, “especially the survivors who were the victims of Epstein’s terrible abuse.”
Litigation is still pending between the US Virgin Islands and the bank. JPMorgan Chase continues to pursue its case against Jes Staley, a former JPMorgan executive and ex-Barclays CEO who the suit said is largely responsible for JPMorgan’s 15-year financial relationship with Epstein.
Victims of Epstein had previously reached a $75 million settlement with Deutsche Bank.
Epstein was arrested in 2019 on charges of sex trafficking minors. He died in prison soon after his arrest in what authorities have ruled to be a suicide.
Epstein faced criminal charges involving sexual misconduct long before his 2019 arrest: He pleaded guilty to two state prostitution charges in 2008 and served just 13 months in prison. And he was released during the day in order to continue to conduct business during that time in prison. He also registered as a sex offender and paid restitution to the victims identified by the FBI.
In an eight-hour deposition in the case last month, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon testified that he had never personally met or spoken over the phone with Epstein, and that he was not aware in real time of bank compliance evaluations of Epstein’s account and his criminal conduct dating back to 2006.
Dimon said he only became aware of the bank’s relationship with Epstein when he saw news stories in 2019 around the time of Epstein’s arrest on federal charges in New York.
“And the reason I remember that is I was surprised that I didn’t know about it before,” he said, according to the transcript.
Lawyers for the victims recently filed to depose Dimon a second time.
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