By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co should disclose more about Chief Executive Jamie Dimon’s role in business decisions related to Jeffrey Epstein, the U.S. Virgin Islands said in its lawsuit accusing the bank of aiding in the financier’s sex trafficking.
In a Thursday filing in Manhattan federal court, the U.S. Virgin Islands said JPMorgan’s wrongful conduct continued at least until August 2019, when Epstein killed himself.
But it said JPMorgan has agreed to provide relevant documents for Dimon only through 2014, and should provide documents for the next five years.
The U.S. Virgin Islands called Dimon “a likely source of relevant and unique information” about decisions to retain Epstein as a client, and discussions on Epstein’s referrals of prominent and wealthy potential clients.
According to the filing, the business referral relationship continued after Epstein stopped being a client.
JPMorgan is seeking the lawsuit’s dismissal. It did not immediately respond to requests for comment after business hours on the latest filing. Dimon has not been accused of wrongdoing.
The U.S. Virgin Islands is suing JPMorgan for unspecified damages, saying the bank should have known about its “high-risk” former client’s misconduct on a private island he owned there.
It has also criticized former JPMorgan private banking chief Jes Staley for staying on good terms with Epstein and exchanging emails that discussed young women and contained sexual content.
Epstein was a JPMorgan client from 2000 to 2013, maintaining his relationship even after pleading guilty in 2008 to a Florida state prostitution charge.
He died in August 2019 at age 66 in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
A separate complaint filed last month by Epstein victims against JPMorgan, which the bank also wants dismissed, said Dimon and other executives decided to “monitor the public news” about Epstein’s misconduct, yet did not sever ties with Epstein.
Dimon and Staley, who later served as Barclays Plc’s chief executive, are not defendants in either lawsuit.
Staley has acknowledged having a friendship with Epstein but denied knowing about his alleged crimes.
The case is Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands v JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 22-10904.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chris Reese)
