The victims of Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier, have formally requested a U.S. federal judge in New York to approve a settlement of $290 million with JPMorgan Chase.
The settlement resolves allegations that the bank turned a “blind eye” to Epstein’s conduct and continued to provide him with financial services. Attorneys representing the victims have stated that the cash settlement falls “within the range of reasonable resolutions and is adequate, and in the best interests”. The request for approval was made in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The settlement follows an agreement reached last week between the Epstein victims and JPMorgan Chase in a lawsuit filed by a woman identified as “Jane Doe 1.” The lawsuit accused the bank of facilitating Epstein’s sex trafficking enterprise. The woman filed the lawsuit on behalf of numerous Epstein victims, and the case was approved to proceed as a class-action lawsuit by the overseeing judge.
Epstein had been a client of JPMorgan Chase for 15 years until the bank cut ties with him in 2013. He had previously been convicted in 2008 for charges related to procuring a person under 18 for prostitution. In 2019, Epstein died by suicide while in custody at a New York City correctional center, where he was facing federal sex-trafficking charges.
JPMorgan Chase has denied any liability and stated that they would not have continued their business relationship with Epstein if they had suspected his involvement in heinous crimes.
If the judge approves the settlement, a claims administrator will be chosen to manage the distribution of funds to the victims, as stated in the court document. The parties involved in the case have recommended Simone Lelchuk for this role, who previously served as the administrator for the Deutsche Bank settlement with Epstein victims, which amounted to $75 million.
According to the filing, Lelchuk is in “a unique position to ensure cost efficiency that will allow the maximum amount of the settlement funds to be distributed”. In evaluating the victims’ claims, Lelchuk will take into account factors such as the severity, type, and duration of the alleged abuse, the victims’ cooperation with investigations and legal proceedings, as well as their recovery in relation to the Deutsche Bank settlement.
The attorneys representing the victims have stated their intention to request 30% of the settlement amount as their fees. They explained that they conducted extensive analysis of hundreds of thousands of documents, along with 15 depositions of fact witnesses and four depositions of experts throughout the litigation process, as outlined in the court document.
Any remaining funds from the settlement will be distributed to a mutually agreed upon charitable organization.
JPMorgan Chase continues to face legal challenges, including a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Jeffrey Epstein had a residence. The lawsuit, seeking monetary damages, is scheduled to go to trial in October. Despite the allegations, the bank maintains its denial of liability.
In a recent court filing, JPMorgan Chase accused the Virgin Islands of granting Epstein more than $300 million in tax incentives and exempting him from sex offender monitoring requirements in exchange for financial contributions and gifts to high-ranking officials in the territory.
The spokesperson for the U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General’s office, Venetia Velazquez, responded by stating “JPMorgan Chase is yet again attempting to cherry-pick information to distract and shift blame away from its failure to share the information it had in its possession about Jeffrey Epstein’s illegal activities.”
According to court documents filed this week, the Virgin Islands suggests that JPMorgan Chase’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, may have ordered the bank’s 2019 review of its connections with Epstein. In Dimon’s deposition in May, he stated that he had never met Epstein and had no knowledge of him until Epstein’s arrest in July 2019.
Recently, as part of the ongoing legal proceedings, the U.S. Virgin Islands submitted a collection of internal JPMorgan Chase emails as evidence in the case. Among these emails is one from July 2019, written by the bank’s head of financial crimes compliance, stating that an “analysis” of the bank’s association with Epstein was requested by senior management.
Additionally, the emails contained correspondences between Epstein and former JPMorgan Chase executive Jes Staley. The bank filed a lawsuit against Staley in March, asserting that he should bear responsibility for any financial penalties resulting from the lawsuits. As of now, Staley has not responded to a request for comment.
