JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon deposed in Jeffrey Epstein suit
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon testifies in deposition over his bank’s connection to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking scandal
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon testified in a deposition in New York on Friday denying any involvement in the accounts of longtime customer Jeffrey Epstein, according to a statement from the bank. Dimon was being deposed for lawsuits accusing JPMorgan of facilitating and profiting from Epstein’s sex trafficking of young women, which he financed with money he had on deposit at the bank. The Virgin Islands and an anonymous Epstein accuser filed the suits claiming that JPMorgan kept Epstein as a customer even after learning he was being investigated for sexually abusing underage girls in Florida and after he pleaded guilty in a state charge there in 2008 to paying for sex from a minor. JPMorgan earlier lost an effort to dismiss the suits.
The suits claim that JPMorgan kept Epstein’s money in the bank to keep him as a customer, despite internal concerns about his slimy reputation. The Virgin Islands says Epstein used frequent cash withdrawals he made from those accounts to pay for young women to travel to the American territory so that he and others could abuse them at his residence on a private island he owned. “Human trafficking was the [principal] business of the accounts Epstein maintained at JPMorgan,” the Virgin Islands’ suit says.
JPMorgan has said that CEO Dimon had not reviewed Epstein’s accounts when he was a client there from 1998 through 2013, the year that JPMorgan severed its relationship with him. Epstein died six years later from suicide in a New York jail, a month after federal authorities charged him with trafficking girls for sex.
In addition to trying to shift blame to former executive Jes Staley, who was a friend of Epstein, JPMorgan this week accused the Virgin Islands of being “complicit in the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein” and looking the other way as Epstein trafficked young women because he was giving high-ranking officials there money, advice, and favors.
The deposition is being taken in private. The questions Dimon is asked and the answers he gives would only become public if they are used in court filings and proceedings, or if they are leaked. JPMorgan has not yet responded to CNBC’s request for comment.
FAQs
Who is Jeffrey Epstein?
Jeffrey Epstein was a billionaire financier and philanthropist who was convicted in 2008 of soliciting an underage girl for prostitution and of soliciting prostitution. He was initially charged in Palm Beach, Florida in 2005 with multiple counts of sexual assault on minors, but, in 2008, pleaded guilty to two lesser charges and served just over a year in a private wing of a Palm Beach county jail. Epstein was later arrested in July 2019 on federal charges for sex trafficking minors in Florida and New York, and died in his cell under suspicious circumstances on August 10th, 2019.
What are the lawsuits against JPMorgan?
The lawsuits accuse JPMorgan of facilitating and profiting from Epstein’s sex trafficking of young women, which he financed with money he had on deposit at the bank.
Who is Jamie Dimon?
Jamie Dimon is the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States.
What is JPMorgan accused of?
JPMorgan is accused of keeping Epstein as a customer even after learning he was being investigated for sexually abusing underage girls in Florida and after he pleaded guilty in a state charge there in 2008 to paying for sex from a minor. The bank is accused of doing so in order to keep Epstein, who had tens of millions of dollars in accounts there, despite internal concerns about his slimy reputation.
Jeffrey Epstein Lawsuit Leads to Deposition of JPMorgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon testified in a deposition in New York regarding lawsuits accusing the bank of facilitating and profiting from Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking of young women. While being questioned under oath, Dimon confirmed that he had no involvement in Epstein’s accounts, according to a statement released by the bank. The lawsuits claim that JPMorgan kept Epstein as a customer, even after learning he was being investigated for sexually abusing underage girls in Florida and after he pleaded guilty to paying for sex from a minor in 2008. JPMorgan earlier lost an effort to dismiss the suits by the plaintiffs. Dimon’s deposition is being taken in private. The Virgin Islands has subpoenaed documents related to Epstein and JPMorgan from high-profile individuals, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, former Disney executive Michael Ovitz, Hyatt Hotels executive chairman Thomas Pritzker, and billionaire real estate investor Mort Zuckerman.