JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank must face lawsuits over Jeffrey Epstein ties, judge says

JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank must face lawsuits that accuse them of enabling Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking, a US judge said Monday.

The decision by US District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan could expose the banks to additional financial and reputational damage for keeping Epstein as a client, even after the late financier registered as a sex offender.

In a six-paragraph order, Rakoff said JPMorgan must face a lawsuit by the US Virgin Islands accusing it of missing red flags about Epstein’s abuse of women on Little St. James, a private island he owned there.

The judge also ruled that both banks must face proposed class actions by women who said Epstein sexually abused them. He said he would explain his reasoning in due course.

Rakoff’s decision gives the plaintiffs a chance to prove another claim: that JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank (DB)knowingly benefited from involvement in Epstein’s sex trafficking. The women can now also try to show that the banks were negligent and obstructed enforcement of a federal anti-trafficking law.

JPMorgan spokeswoman Trish Wexler and Deutsche Bank spokesman Dylan Riddle declined to comment on Rakoff’s ruling.

Brad Edwards, a lawyer for the women, said damages in a scheduled October trial covering more than 300 Epstein victims could total billions of dollars.

The JPMorgan cases drew added attention when Jes Staley, formerly JPMorgan’s private banking chief, was accused of swapping sexually suggestive messages about young women with the financier, and committing sexual assault himself.

‘Landmark decision’

Epstein had been a client of JPMorgan from 2000 to 2013, and Deutsche Bank from 2013 to 2018.

Both banks have said they had no legal duty to protect women from Epstein and denied accusations they knew about his abuses.

“It’s a landmark decision,” Edwards said in an interview.

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/21/business/jpmorgan-deutsche-bank-epstein-lawsuits/index.html