JPMorgan pays US Virgin Islands $75 million to settle lawsuit alleging the bank aided Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking

New York CNN

JPMorgan Chase reached a settlement in a lawsuit filed by the US Virgin Islands alleging that the bank had enabled Jeffrey Epstein to commit sex trafficking crimes.

JPMorgan Chase has made'significant commitments to curb human trafficking' and will pay $75 million to the US Virgin Islands.

According to a press statement from the USVI Attorney General, the USVI sued JPMorgan Chase on December 15th in the Southern District in New York. The attorney general claimed that the bank had benefited financially from disgraced financier Epstein’s sex trafficking operation, and failed to report any suspicious financial activity.

JPMorgan stated in a Tuesday statement that it did not admit any liability for the settlement and reiterated that it "deeply regretted any association" with Epstein.

Epstein was arrested on federal charges in 2019 for sex-trafficking of dozens of girls under the age of 18. According to the New York medical examiner, Epstein committed suicide in his jail cell just over a week after his arrest.

According to the criminal complaint, Epstein operated a human trafficking business between 2002 and 2005 in which he paid young girls, as young as 14, to have sex at his Upper East Side residence and his Palm Beach estate. According to the criminal indictment he worked with his employees and associates to lure girls to his residences. He also paid some of the victims to recruit more girls.

The bank stated that $30 million from the settlement would be used to help charitable organizations work to end human slavery and support survivors. A further $25 million will go to the USVI for infrastructure improvements and to bolster law enforcement. The remaining $20,000,000 will be used for legal fees.

JPMorgan also announced that it had reached a settlement with former executive James "Jes" Staley. The bank had filed a counterclaim against him in relation to his alleged role as a facilitator of Epstein's business relationship with the Bank.