In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, expressed his regret over the bank’s business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Dimon stated that he was “so sad” about the association and that, had the bank known everything that has since become public about Epstein, “we would have done things differently.”
JPMorgan is currently facing civil lawsuits filed in Manhattan federal court by the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands and an Epstein sex abuse accuser. The suits accuse the bank of enabling and benefiting from Epstein’s sex trafficking, including sending young women to the Virgin Islands to be abused by him and others at his private island.
Recent court filings have shown that JPMorgan employees had shared concerns with each other over having Epstein as a client for years before the bank terminated its relationship with him. Despite being convicted in 2008 of soliciting sex from an underage girl, Epstein remained a customer until 2013.
JPMorgan has recently attempted to shift legal responsibility for its relationship with Epstein to Jes Staley, its former chief of investment banking, who had close contact with Epstein over the years. However, a lawyer for the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands has claimed that Dimon knew in 2008 that Epstein was a sex trafficker, and that “Staley knew, Dimon knew, JPMorgan Chase knew” about Epstein’s criminal conduct.
In the interview, Dimon denied the bank’s legal liability for Epstein’s actions, but expressed his respect for the victims. JPMorgan has stated that Dimon has no recollection of reviewing the Epstein accounts, and a bank spokeswoman has denied that the bank broke any rules to facilitate Epstein’s sex trafficking.
Epstein killed himself in a New York jail in August 2019, a month after being arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges. Since then, a number of former friends and associates of Epstein, including Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, and Britain’s Prince Andrew, have been criticized for their relationships with him.
Emails made public in court filings this week have highlighted JPMorgan’s concerns about Epstein, with one email from 2006 showing that a top bank official had concerns about risk management with Epstein. Despite these concerns, Epstein remained a client of the bank for several years.
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