JPMorgan allegedly notified the government of $1 billion in suspicious transactions by Epstein

JPMorgan Chase told the government of over $1 billion dollars in transactions related to “human trafficking” by financier Jeffrey Epstein, the U.S. Virgin alleges in a lawsuit.

JPMorgan Chase allegedly informed the government of over $1 billion in transactions related to “human trafficking” by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein dating to 2003, a lawyer for the U.S. Virgin Islands said. 

The Wall Street giant reported the financial activity — which took place over 16 years — as “suspicious” to the Treasury Department in 2019 after Epstein died by suicide, Mimi Liu, a lawyer for the U.S. Virgin Islands, said at a recent hearing in its lawsuit against the bank, according to a transcript of the public proceeding.

“Epstein’s entire business with JPMorgan and JPMorgan’s entire business with Jeffrey Epstein was human trafficking,” Liu said. “The only reason that JPMorgan finally after 16 years reported the billion dollars in suspicious transactions for Jeffrey Epstein is because he was arrested, and then he was dead.” 

JPMorgan Chase and the Treasury Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment about the territory’s claims.  

The allegation drew attention in oral arguments about whether the judge should issue a summary judgment against the bank before the case goes to trial, which is set to begin next month. The territory is asking the judge to find the bank liable for enabling Epstein’s sex trafficking enterprise while he was a JPMorgan Chase client from 1998 to 2013. The bank’s lawyer also asked that damages be determined at trial.