JPMorgan can sue former government Staley over Epstein ties -US choose

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) -JPMorgan Chase & Co could transfer ahead with its lawsuit looking for to carry former government Jes Staley accountable for concealing what he knew in regards to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, a U.S. choose dominated on Wednesday.

The ruling by U.S. District Choose Jed Rakoff in Manhattan means Staley, who can be a former Barclays (LON:) Plc chief government, might be on the hook for tens of millions of {dollars} over his ties to Epstein, a JPMorgan consumer from 1998 to 2013.

Rakoff stated he’ll present causes for his ruling “in the end.”

Legal professionals for Staley didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark. JPMorgan declined to remark.

Staley has expressed remorse for befriending Epstein, denied understanding about his crimes, and accused JPMorgan of constructing him a fall man for its personal supervisory failures.

Now 66, Staley led JPMorgan’s asset administration enterprise from 2001 to 2009 and its funding financial institution from 2009 to 2013.

JPMorgan desires him cowl losses it could incur in two lawsuits saying it ought to have lower ties to Epstein as a result of it knew or ought to have identified he sexually abused younger girls and women.

It additionally desires Staley to forfeit his compensation from 2006 to 2013, estimated within the tens of tens of millions of {dollars}.

Epstein died in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 whereas awaiting trial for intercourse trafficking. New York Metropolis’s health worker known as the dying a suicide.

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One of many lawsuits JPMorgan faces is a proposed class motion by Epstein accusers, led by a former ballet dancer generally known as Jane Doe 1.

The opposite is by the U.S. Virgin Islands, the place Epstein allegedly abused girls on a non-public island he owned.

That territory has stated Staley and Epstein swapped sexually suggestive emails about girls after Epstein pleaded responsible in 2008 to a Florida prostitution cost and was required to register as a intercourse offender.

Jane Doe 1 stated one among Epstein’s mates sexually assaulted her. JPMorgan later stated Staley was that buddy. Staley has known as the accusation “baseless.”

Rakoff has stated JPMorgan might be liable if Epstein’s accusers proved that Staley had firsthand information that Epstein ran a sex-trafficking enterprise.

On Tuesday, JPMorgan accused the U.S. Virgin Islands of complicity in Epstein’s crimes over 20 years, by letting him purchase off high-ranking officers in alternate for tax breaks and searching the opposite means.

The three lawsuits are scheduled for an Oct. 23 trial.

Deutsche Financial institution (ETR:), the place Epstein was a consumer from 2013 to 2018, this month reached a $75 million settlement with girls who say Epstein abused them.

The instances within the U.S. District Court docket, Southern District of New York are: Jane Doe 1 v JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:), No. 22-10019; Authorities of the U.S. Virgin Islands v JPMorgan Chase Financial institution NA, No. 22-10904; and JPMorgan Chase Financial institution NA v Staley, in Nos. 22-10019 and 22-10904.