JP Morgan will pay a $75 million fine for servicing Jeffrey Epstein’s accounts

Today the leading American bank JP Morgan Chase agreed to pay $75 million to the authorities of the US Virgin Islands for a pre-trial settlement of their claim in the case of financier Jeffrey Epstein, a former resident of the islands. The billionaire was arrested in July 2019 on charges of sex trafficking, corruption of minors, organizing prostitution, bribery of witnesses and other crimes. A month later he committed suicide in a prison cell.

Taking into account today’s agreement, the total amount of compensation from JP Morgan will be $365 million. In mid-June, the bank agreed pay $290 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by victims of sexual abuse by Epstein. The plaintiffs allege that the bank continued to serve Jeffrey Epstein and his associates despite warning signs about their wealthy client. By doing so, they helped ensure that the criminal sex trafficking scheme continued to operate, the complaint said. Another bank that served Epstein and his accomplices was Deutsche Bank – in May it agreed pay victims of sexual violence $75 million.

Evgeny Khvostik