Epstein case: JP Morgan agrees to repay the victims of his pimping client
JPMorgan has reached "agreement in principle" to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by "Jane Doe," an unnamed victim of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The sum that both sides agreed to remain undisclosed and comes in lieu of a claim by the victim for $290 million, the New York Times reported.
"The parties believe this settlement is in the best interests of all parties, especially the survivors who were victims of Epstein's horrific abuse," JPMorgan said, according to Reuters.
The proposal would settle a lawsuit filed in November in federal court in Manhattan by an anonymous woman on behalf of Epstein's victims, which could potentially number more than 100, the New York Times reported.
"Taken together or individually, the historical recoveries from banks that provided financial services to Jeffrey Epstein speak for themselves," said David Boies, one of Doe's attorneys.
"It took a long time – too long – but today is a great day for the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and a great day for justice."
The settlement — which came more than a week after CEO Jamie Dimon gave a deposition in the Epstein cases — was reached for an undisclosed sum, but as Bloomberg reports, another Doe plaintiff represented by the same attorneys has sued Deutsche Bank AG at the same time.
The German bank, which became Epstein's primary financial institution after JPMorgan cut ties with him in 2013, agreed to settle his Doe lawsuit in May for $75 million.
However, Jamie Dimon and his team still face legal action from authorities in the US Virgin Islands, where the financier had a private safe house to which he took several of his victims.
The bank is also suing former private banking chief Jes Staley, who JPMorgan says should be held liable for damages sustained over ties to Epstein.
Meanwhile, JPMorgan executive Mary Erdoes is under scrutiny. As head of the bank's wealth management and part of Dimon's internal orbit, he has had to contend with a steady stream of Epstein-related emails, which paint a picture of a very solid relationship between the financial institution and a Jeffrey epstein who had already suffered the first sentences for his business.
His name appeared at least 59 times in Dimon's May 26 transcript. Meanwhile, just before today's settlement announcement, the unknown woman's lawyers asked the judge to call Dimon and Erdoes back for more deposition, citing an important document produced during the uncovering.
“The Unknown deserves more time to question Erdoes about her relationship with Epstein,” Sigrid McCawley, attorney for the Unknown, said in a letter filed Friday in federal court in Manhattan.
JPMorgan's then general counsel Stephen Cutler said in his deposition that she and Staley had agreed to keep Epstein as a client. Dimon, questioned in the bank's New York offices, called Cutler the "last decision maker" who could have leapfrogged Staley and Erdoes. -Bloomberg
As Bloomberg also notes, the Epstein case isn't the only setback the 55-year-old Erdoes has faced in recent years.
In 2019, JPMorgan launched a high-profile initiative to grow wealth management into another unit. In doing so, the firm took the traditional brokerage business out of Erdoes' world and passed it on to a colleague.
Last year, JPMorgan's board also publicly cut Erdoes' 2021 bonus for using unapproved channels, such as popular messaging apps, to communicate with clients.
There is talk across Wall Street about whether or not the continued scrutiny will impact JPMorgan's front man. -Bloomberg
"While we deplore any association with Jeffrey Epstein, we would never have continued to do business with him if we believed he was using our bank to commit heinous crimes," JPMorgan spokesman Darin Oduyoye said in a statement. “Mary Erdoes and others abandoned him as a client six years before he was charged with human trafficking.”
“Mary has always held herself and her colleagues to the highest standards of integrity and trust,” she added. "Her expertise and character are first-rate, and she is consistently recognized as a top financial services executive."
Let's imagine Jamie Dimon doesn't run for president with Mary Erdoes as vice president.
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The article Epstein case: JP Morgan agrees to repay the victims of its exploitative client comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/caso-epstein-jp-morgan-accetta-di-ripagare-le-vittime-del-suo-cliente-pedofilo/ on Tue, 13 Jun 2023 15:33:03 +0000.