New York
cnn
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JPMorgan Chase has settled with the US Virgin Islands over a lawsuit alleging the bank enabled Jeffrey Epstein to commit sex-trafficking crimes.
The agreement includes “significant commitments” by JPMorgan Chase to curb human trafficking and a payment of $75 million to the US Virgin Islands.
The USVI Attorney General sued JPMorgan Chase in December in the Southern District of New York, claiming the bank benefited financially from disgraced financier Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation and engaged in suspicious financial activity, according to a press release from the attorneys. Failed in his duty to report. General.
JPMorgan said in a statement Tuesday that it was not accepting any liability in the settlement, reiterating that it “deeply regrets any association” with Epstein.
Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal charges of sex trafficking dozens of underage girls. Just a month after his arrest, Epstein died by suicide in his jail cell, according to the New York medical examiner.
According to the criminal indictment, between 2002 and 2005, Epstein ran a trafficking enterprise in which he paid girls under the age of 14 to have sex with him at his Upper East Side home and his property in Palm Beach. According to the indictment, he worked with employees and associates to lure girls to his residence and paid some of his victims to recruit other girls.
The bank said the $30 million settlement will help charitable organizations working to end human trafficking and support survivors. An additional $25 million will be paid to the USVI to enhance infrastructure and strengthen law enforcement. The remaining $20 million is earmarked for legal fees.
JPMorgan said it also reached a settlement agreement with former executive James “Jess” Staley, against whom the bank had filed a cross claim in connection with his alleged role in facilitating Epstein’s relationship with the bank.