JPMorgan Chase settles lawsuit filed by Jeffrey Epstein victim

JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed in principle to settle a class-action lawsuit with a victim of Jeffrey Epstein, the U.S. bank said on Monday in a joint statement with the woman's lawyers.

The settlement resolves one claim against JPMorgan in a proposed class action by a woman who says Epstein abused her.

"The parties believe this settlement is in the best interests of all parties, especially the survivors who were the victims of Epstein's terrible abuse," JPMorgan said.

"Any association with him [Epstein] was a mistake and we regret it," the bank went on. "We would never have continued to do business with him if we believed he was using our bank in any way to help commit heinous crimes."

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The proposed settlement, which must still be approved a judge, totals $290 million US, the Associated Press reported, citing lead plaintiff attorney David Boies.

The largest bank in the United States is still facing a lawsuit by the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned two neighbouring islands and allegedly abused victims in his mansion.

JPMorgan's litigation against its former executive Jes Staley, who it accuses of concealing what he knew about Epstein, is also ongoing.

Bank CEO Dimon denies knowledge

The lawsuit had claimed JPMorgan had ignored internal warnings about Epstein's sexual abuses of girls and young women and chose to keep the disgraced financier as a client.

Epstein was a JPMorgan client from 1998 until he was dismissed in 2013.

JPMorgan kept him aboard even after his 2006 arrest in a Florida case and a related guilty plea two years later. Epstein was originally charged with multiple counts of unlawful sex with a minor, but ultimately indicted on a single count of soliciting prostitution.

Epstein died in August 2019 at age 66 in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial for sex trafficking. New York City's medical examiner called Epstein's death a suicide.

Jamie Dimon, the bank's CEO, sat for a deposition in the case late last month. In his deposition, Dimon said he had barely heard of Epstein before the financier's arrest in July 2019 and did not recall discussing Epstein's accounts with other bank officials, including those authorized to terminate Epstein as a client.

"Plaintiffs like the headlines, but no amount of time on the record will change the fact that Jamie Dimon never met the man, never worked with the man and wishes in hindsight the man had never been a client," bank spokesperson Darin Oduyoye said in a statement last week.

2nd major bank settlement

Dimon said he asked Staley to leave JPMorgan in 2013, prior to Epstein's termination, because he was not running its investment bank well. Epstein was not a factor in Staley's departure, Dimon said.

Documents disclosed recently in the lawsuit show that former JPMorgan counsel Stephen Cutler had asked the bank to cut ties with Epstein, but other executives resisted.

Staley has said he regretted befriending Epstein, but denied knowing about his alleged sex trafficking. His lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Deutsche Bank, which after his death acknowledged its mistake in taking on Epstein as a client, earlier this year reached a similar settlement, for $75 million US ($101 million Cdn), with his victims.

"The settlements signal that financial institutions have an important role to play in spotting and shutting down sex trafficking," Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer for the woman known as Jane Doe 1 who sued JPMorgan, said in a statement.