Explosive newly released passages from a federal lawsuit show more than 20 of Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking victims were paid via accounts with the banking giant JPMorgan Chase – and that executives at the bank knew about abuse allegations swirling around their client.
Law & Crime reported the information had been previously redacted from the lawsuit, which was filed by the former attorney general of the Virgin Islands and accuses JPMorgan Chase of being complicit in Epstein's crimes. The new details include emails sent by bank executives that discuss Epstein's abuse and sex offender status as early as 2006, Law & Order reported.
The passages were unsealed Wednesday by the government of the Virgin Islands.
"These women were trafficked and abused during different intervals between at least 2003 and July 2019, when Epstein was arrested and jailed, and these women received payments, typically multiple payments, between 2003 and 2013 in excess of $1 million collectively," one of the uncovered passages reads, Law & Order reported.
"Epstein also withdrew more than $775,000 in cash over that time frame from JP Morgan accounts, especially significant as Epstein was known to pay for "massages," or sexual encounters, in cash."
The bank's Global Corporate Security Division researched, identified and flagged newspaper articles about Epstein being held on felony charges of soliciting underage prostitutes, Law & Order reported. It was a charge that Esptein was able to plea into a non-prosecution agreement for an extremely light sentence. This was before the major federal sex trafficking charges.
"See below new allegations of an investigation related to child trafficking -- are you still comfortable with this client who is now a registered sex offender?" one of the passages reads.
The response from the JP Morgan risk management official: "In my short tenure working on the account these stories pop up including these from the summer."
The financial giant has unsuccessfully tried to get the lawsuit dismissed, accusing the U.S. territory of filing the suit as part of an attempted cash grab. The U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein had a home, have previously reached a settlement of more than $100 million with Epstein's estates. "
