JPMorgan is suing former private banking head Jes Staley over his ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The largest bank in the US is dragging Staley to court not just for entangling the institution with a convicted sex offender, but also because of sexual assault allegations against the former executives himself, according to a lawsuit filed in a Manhattan federal court.
In recent months, JPMorgan was the subject of two complaints: one in November 2022 by an unnamed woman, Jane Doe 1, who accused the bank of aiding in Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking by keeping him as a client, and ignoring red flags; and one in December 2022 by the US Virgin Islands attorney general for “turning a blind eye.” Staley is not a defendant in either lawsuit.
JPMorgan admitted in court documents last month that Staley had inappropriate personal conversations with Epstein through his work email, but that did not bring the actions “into the ambit of his employment.” The bank maintains it is not liable for the action of his former employee.
In its lawsuit against Staley, JP Morgan says the former executive should cover some or all damages if it was found liable, as well as pay punitive damages for his “intentional and outrageous conduct” in hiding the facts from the bank. As a result of “Staley’s faithless service,” the bank also wants Staley to give back all compensation he earned between 2006 and 2013, it said in its filing yesterday.
Quotable: JPMorgan wants Jes Staley to pay
“The plaintiffs have made troubling allegations concerning the conduct of our former employee Jes Staley, and if true, he should be held responsible for his actions. If these allegations against Staley are true, he violated this duty by putting his own personal interests ahead of the company’s.” —JPMorgan spokeswoman
Epstein’s banks, by the digits
$80 million: Amount of pay JPMorgan wants Staley to pay back to the bank
Around 1,200: Emails that Staley and Epstein exchanged between 2008 and 2012, including some about young women that contained sexual content
13 years: Epstein was a JPMorgan client between 2000 and 2013
6 years: Time Staley spent as Barclays’ chief starting in 2015. In November 2021, he stepped down because of regulatory probes regarding Epstein
$26 million: Bonus payouts to Staley that Barclays froze in 2022 while he was being probed in the Epstein case
5 years: Epstein was a Deutsche Bank client between 2013 and 2018. Epstein’s victims are also suing Deutsche Bank, which, like JPMorgan, is seeking a dismissal
$577 million: The estate Epstein left behind in his will, made days before he killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Women who say Epstein assaulted or abused them, many when they were underage, will not see him sentenced in a criminal court but they are still eligible to make civil claims against the estate
Related stories
🙃 Why is Jes Staley resigning from Barclays?
🤑 Is it ever OK to take donations from people like Jeffrey Epstein?
🤫 Jeffrey Epstein’s money bought a coverup at the MIT Media Lab