New allegations against the bank’s former manager have surfaced in the wake of the lawsuits against JPMorgan.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
Denver The US bank JP Morgan Chase has filed a lawsuit against its former top manager Jes Staley. With this unusual step, the institute wants to hold Staley liable for any damages that may arise in connection with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Two lawsuits were filed against JP Morgan in the Epstein case. One is from a group of unnamed women. The other from the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein had an estate.
They accuse America’s largest bank of profiting from Epstein and knowing or should have known about his crimes.
The group of women has also filed a lawsuit against Deutsche Bank. Both houses reject the allegations.
JP Morgan also accuses Staley of breaching his duty of loyalty to the bank. Staley ran private banking and later investment banking, among other things, and “should have refrained from any activity that he knew would damage the bank, either financially or reputationally,” according to JP Morgan. He should also have reported all findings that were important for the decision whether the US billionaire Epstein remains a customer of the bank or not.
JP Morgan is therefore demanding the salaries paid from the years 2006 to 2013 back. The sum could amount to a good 80 million dollars, according to calculations by the financial services provider Bloomberg.
Serious allegations against Staley
Epstein was a client of JP Morgan from around 2000 to 2013 and a client of Deutsche Bank from 2013 to 2018. In 2008 he pleaded guilty to forcing a minor into prostitution. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Arrested again on sex trafficking allegations, he committed suicide in custody in August 2019, aged 66.
In the course of the lawsuits against JP Morgan, new allegations have emerged against Staley, who was CEO of British bank Barclays until 2021 and was forced to resign in the wake of the Epstein investigation. Staley is said to have “personally observed” Epstein’s sexual abuse on a number of occasions, according to a lawsuit. Staley and Epstein are also said to have exchanged offensive emails.
One Epstein victim alleged in her lawsuit against the bank that a friend of Epstein’s sexually assaulted her. JP Morgan said on Wednesday that man was Staley.
The former bank manager has always denied the allegations and regretted his relationship with Epstein.
Deutsche Bank was fined $150 million by New York’s banking regulator three years ago for misconduct in its relations with Epstein. “It was a serious mistake that we accepted him as a customer in 2013 – it should never have happened,” wrote CEO Christian Sewing to the employees at the time.
More: Barclays chief resigns over Epstein investigation