[1/4] JPMorgan Chase Financial institution is seen in New York Metropolis, U.S., March 21, 2023. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs/
NEW YORK, Might 26 (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) Chief Govt Jamie Dimon mentioned in a deposition on Friday that he had by no means met or communicated with late intercourse offender and former financial institution consumer Jeffrey Epstein, the financial institution mentioned.
The most important U.S. financial institution faces lawsuits in search of damages by girls who declare that Epstein sexually abused them, and by the U.S. Virgin Islands, the place the late financier had a house.
Epstein was a JPMorgan consumer from 2000 to 2013, remaining so after pleading responsible in 2008 to a Florida state prostitution cost.
Dimon, who shouldn’t be a defendant, had been ordered by a federal decide to put aside as much as 4 days for depositions about what he knew concerning the financial institution’s relationship with Epstein.
“At right now’s deposition, our CEO repeatedly confirmed that he by no means met with him, by no means emailed him, doesn’t recall ever discussing his accounts internally, and was not concerned in any selections about his account,” JPMorgan mentioned in a press release.
JPMorgan mentioned that the “thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of emails and different paperwork which have been produced on this case” don’t come near “even suggesting that he had any function in selections about Epstein’s accounts.”
In courtroom papers, JPMorgan has been accused of realizing by 2006 that Epstein paid money to have underage ladies and younger girls delivered to his dwelling, and ignoring a number of inside warnings to chop ties with him.
Dimon joined JPMorgan in 2004 and have become CEO in December 2005. He has not been accused of wrongdoing.
JPMorgan mentioned, “In hindsight, any affiliation with (Epstein) was a mistake and we remorse it, however these fits are misdirected as we didn’t assist him commit his heinous crimes.”
JPMorgan is individually suing its former non-public banking chief Jes Staley, claiming he hid what he knew about Epstein and may cowl losses it might incur within the two lawsuits.
A decide on Friday dominated that the Manhattan District Legal professional’s workplace should give JPMorgan statements made to one in all its prosecutors by a lady who’s suing the financial institution in search of financial damages over its ties to Epstein.
The privileges and legal guidelines invoked by District Legal professional Alvin Bragg’s workplace to attempt to block JPMorgan from acquiring the statements didn’t apply to those information, U.S. District Choose Jed Rakoff determined.
The lady, a ballet dancer identified by Jane Doe, has mentioned she was sexually abused by Epstein. She sued New York-based JPMorgan final yr in a proposed class motion, accusing the financial institution of enabling his intercourse trafficking by retaining him as a consumer from 1998 to 2013, the final 5 years after he pleaded responsible to the Florida prostitution cost.
JPMorgan has denied legal responsibility. It has accused Staley, who was pleasant with Epstein, of concealing what he knew about Epstein’s crimes.
Representatives for Bragg and JPMorgan declined to remark following the decide’s ruling. Staley’s attorneys didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
JPMorgan on March 7 issued a subpoena to the Manhattan DA’s workplace in search of statements that Jane Doe made to the chief of its intercourse crimes unit on Aug, 10, 2022, or any statements by individuals who recognized Staley as a witness to or perpetrator of a intercourse crime.
Rakoff mentioned the order that the DA flip over paperwork applies solely to statements by Jane Doe.
Epstein died in 2019 in a Manhattan jail cell whereas awaiting trial on intercourse trafficking expenses. New York Metropolis’s medical expert referred to as the loss of life a suicide.
Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Modifying by Megan Davies, Will Dunham, Grant McCool and Leslie Adler
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