A former JPMorgan executive accused the CEO of lying about his knowledge of pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s bank accounts that were allegedly used to traffic young women.
Former CEO Jes Staley pointed the finger at Jamie Dimon, claiming the CEO was involved in discussions for years about whether the bank should keep Epstein as a client — even after he became a convicted pedophile.
The details, revealed in legal documents viewed by the Wall Street Journalcasting doubt on Dimon’s defense of the bank in an ongoing lawsuit alleging that the banking giant was not doing enough to remove Epstein’s accounts and delay his heinous crimes.
But a JPMorgan spokesman denied Staley’s claims, portraying him as a disgruntled ex-employee trying to wash his hands of guilt and soften his involvement in sexual misconduct.
Staley, who served as CEO of Barclays from 2015 to 2021, was ousted from JPMorgan over the Epstein connections. He has acknowledged that he had a friendship with Epstein, but denied knowing about the human trafficking.
Former JPMorgan executive Jes Staley, 66, has said CEO Jamie Dimon is lying about his role in talks about whether pedophile Epstein should be able to hold accounts at the bank
Jamie Dimon (pictured with his wife Judith in 2011) denied having any recollection of conversations about Epstein during a statement on Friday
Epstein became a client of JPMorgan in 1998 and had dozens of accounts with the bank containing hundreds of millions of dollars, according to federal court records.
The U.S. Virgin Islands and an unnamed woman, who said she was abused by Epstein, sued JPMorgan, claiming the bank could have done more to stop him. The lawsuit questions the extent of ties between the two high-ranking bankers and Epstein.
Epstein was a notorious figure long before his death in a federal prison in 2019. In 2006, he was arrested for soliciting and obtaining a minor for prostitution, and in 2008 pleaded guilty to Florida charges.
Epstein received a minimal sentence and his love deal wasn’t revealed until years later. That sparked outrage, and Epstein was later arrested on federal sex crime charges.
He committed suicide while awaiting trial in New York.
A specific claim by Staley against Dimon is that after Epstein’s initial arrest, the couple communicated multiple times about whether to keep Epstein as a client, even after he was registered as a sex offender and served time in a Florida jail.
An email presented as evidence indicated that Dimon had to review the situation regarding Epstein at some point.
It was sent by a JPMorgan employee and read, “I would count Epstein’s assets as a probable outflow for 2008 ($120mm or so?) because I can’t imagine it will stay (pending the Dimon- judgement).’
According to the Journal, when Dimon was dropped off on Friday, he told lawyers he had no recollection of any such conversations.
Staley refutes those claims.
A JPMorgan addressed them in a statement to DailyMail.com on Thursday.
“We believe this is false,” they wrote. “There is no evidence that such communication ever took place – nothing in the vast number of documents reviewed and nothing in the nearly dozen statements made, including those of our own CEO.”
“The only person claiming this to be true is currently being charged with heinous acts and dishonesty,” they added.
That position is in line with the bank’s overall defensive strategy in the case — which Staley has blamed for any connections the bank may have had with Epstein.
A lawsuit filed by the U.S. Virgin Islands and a woman alleging Epstein abused her suggested the pedophile’s JPMorgan bank accounts were used to pay trafficked women
Staley has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman while visiting Epstein’s private island (pictured). He has denied knowing about the trafficking, but has admitted befriending the convicted pedophile
JPMorgan is suing Staley for misleading bank executives about the nature of his own relationship with Epstein
The Virgin Islands say Epstein regularly withdrew cash from JPMorgan accounts to pay young women to travel to his private island so that he and others could abuse them.
Human trafficking was the [principal] matters of the accounts that Epstein kept at JPMorgan,” the Virgin Islands lawsuit reads.
Staley is accused of visiting the island and using “aggressive force in his assault” [the anonymous plaintiff] and informed [her] that he had Epstein’s permission to do whatever he wanted with her.”
A lawyer for Staley, who left JPMorgan in 2013, declined a request for comment from the Wall Street Journal.
In a separate lawsuit, JPMorgan has sued Staley for misleading executives at the bank about the nature of his own relationship with Epstein.