Another page in the seemingly never-ending Epstein saga was written today, as JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to pay $290 million to settle the lawsuit with ‘Jane Doe’ victim, who alleges that the bank knowingly benefited from former client Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking.
Bloomberg reports:
“JPMorgan Chase & Co. has agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging it knowingly benefited from former client Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking.
The firm reached an ‘agreement in principle’ to settle the proposed class action filed by an unnamed Epstein victim late last year, JPMorgan said in a statement Monday.
[…] ‘We all now understand that Epstein’s behavior was monstrous, and we believe this settlement is in the best interest of all parties, especially the survivors, who suffered unimaginable abuse at the hands of this man,” the New York-based bank said. “Any association with him was a mistake and we regret it. We would never have continued to do business with him if we believed he was using our bank in any way to help commit heinous crimes’.”
The move by US’ biggest bank was widely expected, after Deutsche bank had already settled with another trafficking victim represented by the same lawyers to the tune of $75 million.
“‘Taken together or individually, the historic recoveries from the banks who provided financial services to Jeffrey Epstein speak for themselves’, said David Boies, one of the attorneys for Doe. ‘It has taken a long time — too long — but today is a great day for Jeffrey Epstein survivors, and a great day for justice’.”
The settlement means to stop the reputational damage that the bank is suffering, since among other disturbing revelations, it has been stated in court docs that one of its executive (later revealed to be Jes Staley) is accused of brutally raping the anonymous plaintiff ‘Jane Doe’ in Epstein’s Island.
In fact, JPMorgan Chase decided to sue Staley via a ‘third-party complaint’, accusing him of misleading the bankinto maintaining Epstein as a client.
The settlement, which still has to be approved by the judge overseeing the case, will not completely extinguish the Epstein-related problems for the company, since it is also being sued by the US Virgin Islands territory.
As we reported before here in TGP, JPMorgan Chase is arguing in court that the USVI can’t seek damages, because they have ‘unclean hands’.
“New York courts have long applied the maxim that one who comes to equity must come with clean hands, and that no relief will lie for parties who ‘have committed some unconscionable act that is directly related to the subject matter in litigation’.
[…] USVI did not simply fail to prosecute Epstein or protect his victims. Worse, USVI actively worked with Epstein, reaping the benefits of his wealth while lending official services in aid of his crimes.”