JPMorgan Chase has reached a tentative settlement of $290 million with the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and sexual offender.
The settlement comes after weeks of revelations about JPMorgan’s longstanding relationship with Epstein, which caused significant embarrassment for the bank.
The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court last November, was brought forth by an unidentified woman.
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She came on behalf of victims who Epstein sexually abused over approximately 15 years when they were teenagers and young women.
The number of victims involved could potentially exceed 100.
In their joint statement, JPMorgan and the lawyers for the victims said they have reached “an agreement in principle to settle” the suit.
The proposed settlement is two weeks after JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon sat for a daylong deposition.
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He claimed to have had limited knowledge of Epstein before the financier’s arrest on federal sex-trafficking charges in July 2019.
Epstein died by suicide in August 2019 while in a Manhattan jail cell.
However, JPMorgan still faces a related lawsuit filed by the government of the US Virgin Islands, which remains the largest outstanding Epstein-related case.
The territory contends JPMorgan should be held accountable for enabling Epstein to establish a sex-trafficking operation on his private island off St. Thomas.
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In response, JPMorgan has strongly opposed the suit, arguing that government officials in the Virgin Islands had close ties with Epstein for nearly two decades.
Court documents and deposition testimony revealed that JPMorgan employees had filed multiple suspicious activity reports regarding Epstein’s large cash withdrawals.
Despite designating Epstein as a “high risk client” in 2006, the bank continued its relationship with him, even as media reports surfaced about allegations of his sexual abuse of teenage girls.
It was also discovered that some cash withdrawals were used for payments to numerous young women.
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JPMorgan provided banking services to Epstein from approximately 1998 to 2013, during which the financier’s most egregious conduct is believed to have taken place.
In response to the settlement, the bank reiterated that any association with Epstein was a mistake and deeply regrets it.
Last month, the same lawyers representing Epstein’s victims negotiated a tentative $75 million settlement with Deutsche Bank, which had succeeded JPMorgan as Epstein’s primary banker.
Both the settlements with JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank require approval from Judge Jed Rakoff of the Federal District Court in Manhattan, who is also presiding over the Virgin Islands’ lawsuit.
