JPMorgan agrees to $75M settlement in U.S. Virgin Islands Epstein case

JPMorgan Chase will pay $75 million to settle claims brought by the U.S. Virgin Islands relating to the bank’s dealings with deceased financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The settlement caps a months-long legal saga in which JPMorgan faced claims of facilitating Epstein's trafficking of underage women. Bank CEO Jamie Dimon was deposed, as were other executives, and Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) started a probe.

The bank had already agreed to pay $290 million to settle a class action suit brought by Epstein’s victims. Deutsche Bank has paid $75 million to resolve similar claims involving Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

“While the settlement does not involve admissions of liability, the firm deeply regrets any association with this man, and would never have continued doing business with him if it believed he was using the bank in any way to commit his heinous crimes,” JPMorgan said in a press release announcing the deal on Tuesday.

The settlement calls for the bank to pay $30 million to support charitable organizations in the U.S. Virgin Islands, $25 million to support law enforcement efforts to combat human trafficking in the territory and $20 million in attorneys’ fees.

JPMorgan has also reached an agreement to settle claims against former executive Jes Staley, who later left the bank to become CEO of Barclay’s before resigning from that position in 2021. He was accused of shielding Epstein from losing access to his accounts.

“This settlement is an historic victory for survivors and for state enforcement, and it should sound the alarm on Wall Street about banks’ responsibilities under the law to detect and prevent human trafficking,” Virgin Islands Attorney General Ariel Smith said in a statement.