JPMORGAN TO PAY $290 MILLION ON SETTLEMENT WITH EPSTEIN VICTIMS

The latest headline leading today shows that JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $290 million to settle a lawsuit filed on their deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein who was accused of sex trafficking. David Bowie who's one of the victims' attorneys made it known to the public the latest information concerning the class-action lawsuit.

The involvement of JPMorgan Chase in the lawsuit filed against the deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein came in after victims pointed fingers at the bank for working alongside the deceased.

The lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court in November also held charges against JPMorgan for assisting Epstein's molestation of teenage girls and young women. Same with related lawsuits filed in the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

According to the lawsuits, it was said that JPMorgan assisted Epstein with loans and allowed him to withdraw large sums of cash from 1998 through August 2013 even though they were aware of his participation in sex trafficking. 

Epstein was arrested in 2019 on charges of paying underage girls to come to massage him while he molest them on arrival at his home in Florida and New York. It was in August 2019 that same year that he was found dead in his prison cell—according to a medical examiner, he said Epstein committed suicide. Age 66.

A joint statement from JPMorgan Chase and attorneys for the victims said they “have informed the court that they have reached an agreement in principle to settle the putative class action lawsuit related to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes.”

Boies said that the agreement was based on the court's approval. He further stated that under the terms of the settlement, JPMorgan Chase will not admit liability in the case, but upon settlement's approval, the bank will put out a statement regretting its association with Jeffrey Epstein.

According to the joint statement, the victims' lawyers and the bank said that the agreement was in the best interest of all those affected by Epstein's wrongdoings. “especially the survivors who were the victims of Epstein’s terrible abuse,” the statement pointed out.

However, it's not clear how many victims will benefit from the compensation. But more than 100 women are expected to be beneficiaries of the settlement—women who also filed a claim with Epstein's estate through the Epstein Victims Compensation Program are also expected to be partakers.

According to the Boies report to CNN, he said that  “Money, which for far too long flowed with impunity between Jeffrey Epstein’s global sex trafficking enterprise and Wall Street’s leading banks, is decisively being used for good,” said Sigrid McCawley, managing partner at the firm Boies Schiller Flexner. “The settlements signal that financial institutions have an important role to play in spotting and shutting down sex trafficking.”

“It has taken a long time, too long, but today is a great day for Jeffrey Epstein survivors, and a great day for justice,”

A $75 million settlement has been reached with Deutsche Bank by victims of Epstein sex trafficking. 

Federal Judge Jed Rakoff, who is hearing the case, Monday approved a class of eligible victims defined as “all women who were sexually abused or trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein during the time when JP Morgan maintained [accounts] for Epstein and/or Epstein-related entities.” That period runs from January 1, 1998, through August 19, 2013, as well as the subsequent period until his death on August 10, 2019.”