- The US Virgin Islands is suing JPMorgan Chase in connection with the Jeffrey Epstein case.
- Court filings show it wants the bank to hire a compliance consultant to combat human trafficking.
- JPMorgan said the claims were “not well founded” and would be challenged in court.
The US Virgin Islands is seeking at least $190 million from JPMorgan Chase for its alleged involvement with Jeffrey Epstein, as well as implement measures to prevent human trafficking.
In a brief filed in court on Friday, the US Virgin Islands’ Department of Justice argued that the bank failed to properly scrutinize Epstein when he was a client and even benefited from his sex trafficking, according to the court documents.
The US Virgin Islands also requested that the bank brings in an independent consultant “to prevent human trafficking” and “overcome the economic incentives to underreport suspicious activity.”
It also wanted JPMorgan to confirm customers’ basic details before they could open a private account, and to prohibit “participation of any employee who has a personal relationship with a private banking client in the decision to retain or exit that client,” per the filing.
A representative for JPMorgan Chase did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider made outside normal working hours.
In a statement to CNN, the bank said the US Virgin Islands’ “misdirected damages theories” were “not well founded” and would be challenged in court.
Since the US Virgin Islands filed its lawsuit in December 2022, both parties have blamed the other for their roles in Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.
In a another lawsuit, JPMorgan alleged that Epstein paid the college tuition for the children of the former first lady of the US Virgin Islands.
In June The Wall Street Journal reported that Epstein also offered to help a former JPMorgan executive get his daughter into Columbia University. The bank did not comment on the claim to the newspaper other than repeating previous statements expressing regret about working with Epstein.
Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges. He died later that year while being held at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center.
In June, JPMorgan agreed to pay $290 million to some of Epstein’s victims, who alleged that the bank facilitated his sex trafficking and ignored his behavior.
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