Latest / The Epstein Chronicles / The USVI And Their Motion In Opposition To JP Morgan's Request For Dismissal (Part 1) (9/20/26)

Transcript

The USVI And Their Motion In Opposition To JP Morgan's Request For Dismissal (Part 1) (9/20/26) · The Epstein Chronicles

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: In this episode we're going to take a dive right
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: back into the court documents and we're going to start
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: taking a look at the government of the United States
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Virgin Islands and their memorandum of law in opposition to
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: JPMorgan Chase and their motion to dismiss. Introduction. For two
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: decades defendant JPMorgan Chase Bank North America facilitated and sustained
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking and by handling and redacted his
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: payments to young women and girls who were his victims
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: and recruiters. Sex trafficking was the principal business of Epstein's
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: accounts held by J.P. Morgan, and J.P. Morgan profited handsomely
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: from the hundreds of millions of dollars in assets in
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: those accounts, in addition to Epstein's connections and referrals of
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: ultra-wealthy and powerful clients. Far from the so-called ordinary banking
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: services J.P. Morgan claims it provided to Epstein, JPMorgan broke
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: every rule to facilitate Epstein's sex trafficking and feed off
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: his wealth and his connections. In 2008, after Epstein pled
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: guilty to felony charges for procuring a child for prostitution,
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: conduct that is child sex trafficking under the TVPA, the
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: expectation was that JPMorgan would cut ties with, or at
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: a minimum, closely monitor the convicted felon and registered sex offender.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: It did neither. Instead, and decided at the highest level,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: pending Diamond Review, J.P. Morgan continued to facilitate and sustain
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Epstein sex trafficking by making the payments and covering up
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: the trafficking, including for many years after it no longer
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: held Epstein's accounts, which predictably enabled ongoing and future trafficking
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: by Epstein. J.P. Morgan, through its head of private bank,
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: assigned to manage Epstein and Epstein's accounts, made multiple visits
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: to Epstein's Virgin Islands residence where women and girls were
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: sex trafficked. only when there was nothing left to be
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: gained upon Epstein's arrest and death in federal prison in 2019, redacted.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: The government of the United States, Virgin Islands, brings this
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: action as parents patriae seeking relief for J.P. Morgan's participation
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: in Epstein's sex trafficking that took place in and was
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: directed from the Virgin Islands. Throughout the decades when J.P.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: Morgan handled the redacted Epstein payments to victims and recruiters,
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: Epstein lived in the Virgin Islands, on his secluded private island,
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: Little St. James. The government asserts claims for J.P. Morgan's
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: violations of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, 18 U.S. Code
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: Section 1580-1597, the Virgin Islands Criminally Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, SECO,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: Virgin Island Code 14, Section 600-614, and the Consumer Fraud
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: and Deceptive Business Practices Act, CFDBPA. JPMorgan tries to shift
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: the blame for its participation onto the government, contending that
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: the government had access to the same information on Epstein
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: that JPMorgan did. This belies both facts, ignoring the allegations
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: detailing Epstein's redacted. The TVPA establishes liability for those who
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: participate in human trafficking, and JPMorgan's efforts at misdirection do
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: not alter its legal responsibility for its own conduct and
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: the profound consequences for the dozens of women whose trafficking
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: was uniquely visible in to and made possible by his bank.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: Unlike the government, J.P. Morgan had real-time knowledge of millions
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: of dollars of payments Epstein was making to young women
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: who were his victims and recruiters, which had no conceivable
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: relationship to Epstein's stated business interests. J.P. Morgan had real-time
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: knowledge that Epstein was using accounts of his charitable organizations
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: to make payments to young women, which had no conceivable
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: relationship to his charities' stated purposes. JPMorgan's Global Corporate Security
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: Division Risk Management Division and AML Compliance Director over the
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: course of years repeatedly identified evidence of Epstein's child sex
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: trafficking and human trafficking. JPMorgan identified, redacted, JPMorgan identified, had
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: more of an up-close-and-personal view of Epstein's sex trafficking through
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: his senior executive J.P. Morgan, assigned to manage Epstein and
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: Epstein's accounts, who, in his role, built a close relationship
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: with Epstein, visited Epstein's properties in the Virgin Islands and elsewhere,
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: exchanged hundreds of messages with Epstein from his J.P. Morgan
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: email account in full view of J.P. Morgan, including some
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: with photos of young women, discussed Epstein's provision of services
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: to him, during his travel on dates that closely corresponded
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: with Epstein's payments to the same young women from his J.P.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: Morgan accounts, and discussed young women or girls procured by
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: Epstein using the names of Disney princesses, Snow White, and
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: Beauty and the Beast. J.P. Morgan's failed attempt to divert
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: attention from its participation in Epstein's sex trafficking is understandable,
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: as its attempted defenses to the government's TVPA, SECO, and
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: CFDBPA claims have no merit. Factual Background Between 1998 and 2013, J.P.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: Morgan serviced approximately 55 Epstein-related accounts valued in the hundreds
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: of millions of dollars. During this time, J.P. Morgan handled
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: payments by Epstein to at least 20 young women or
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: girls whom he trafficked and subjected to sexual assault in
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: the Virgin Islands and elsewhere. The payments had no conceivable
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: relationship to Epstein's stated business interests. Epstein also withdrew hundreds
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: of thousands of dollars in cash over that time from J.P.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: Morgan accounts especially significant as Epstein was known to pay
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: for massages, sexual encounters, with young girls in cash. During
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: this time, J.P. Morgan also processed payments by Epstein totaling
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: almost $ 1. 5 million to known recruiters of victims of Epstein's
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: sex trafficking enterprise, including the MC2 modeling agency. Among the
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: recipients of these payments were numerous women with Eastern European surnames,
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: who were publicly and internally identified as Epstein recruiters and
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: or victims, including $ 600, 000 to Jane Doe One, a woman
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: who J.P. Morgan's own due diligence reports stated Epstein purchased
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: at the age of 14. Throughout its relationship with Epstein, J.P.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: Morgan's internal investigation teams identified evidence that he was engaged
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: in criminal sex trafficking. In 2006, J.P. Morgan's Global Corporate
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: Security Division reported that Epstein was indicted in Florida for
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: felony solicitation of minors for prostitution. In 2008, Epstein pled
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: guilty in Florida to solicitation or procurement of a minor
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: for prostitution and became a registered sex offender. J.P. Morgan's
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: continued relationship with Epstein after his criminal plea was reviewed
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: and approved at the highest levels of the bank. In
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: August 2008, internal email states, I would count Epstein's assets
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: as a probable outflow for 2008, $ 120 million or so,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: so I can't imagine it will stay pending Diamond's review.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: Yet the assets did stay. Next part, redacted. In 2010, J.P.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: Morgan's Risk Management Division discussed new allegations of an investigation
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: of Epstein involving child sex trafficking. Throughout 2010 and 2011, J.P.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: Morgan's Compliance and Security Divisions reported evidence of Epstein's engagement
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: in sex trafficking, including his settlement of a dozen civil
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: lawsuits and his payment of $ 1 million to the MC2
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: modeling agency engaged with Epstein in child sex trafficking, luring
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: girls on the pretext of providing modeling opportunities and careers. J.P. Morgan,
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: through senior executive Jeff Staley, engaged in multiple visits to
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: Epstein's residence on Little St. James, where the sex trafficking
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: took place as part of its management of its business
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: relationship with Epstein. At the time of these visits, Staley
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: was serving in the role of J.P. Morgan's head of
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: private bank, which was dedicated to extremely wealthy clients like Epstein. J.P.
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: Morgan assigned Staley to manage Epstein and his accounts for
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: his wealth, connections, and referrals to other ultra-wealthy and powerful clients. Thus,
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: Staley's job was to maintain a close relationship with Epstein
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: so that his money, connections, and referrals would continue to
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: flow to JP Morgan. Between 2008 and 2012, Staley exchanged
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: over 1,000 messages with Epstein from his JP Morgan email
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: account in full view of JP Morgan, including emails about
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: his visit to Little St. James. A December 2008 email
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: shows Staley planning to visit Epstein in early January of 2009,
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: Around the time of Staley's scheduled visit, Epstein wired $ 2, 000
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: from his JP Morgan account to a woman with an
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: Eastern European surname. In late August 2009, Staley emailed that
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: he was visiting London. Epstein asked if he needed anything.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: Staley replied, yep. Soon after, JP Morgan wired $ 3, 000 from
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: an Epstein account to the same Eastern European woman, and
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: then in July of 2010, Staley emailed Epstein saying that
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: was fun. Say hi to Snow White. to which Epstein responded,
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: what character would you like next? And Staley said, Beauty
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: and the Beast. Epstein was also emailed Staley photos of
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: young women in seductive poses. Following the internal reports of
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: additional law enforcement investigations into Epstein's sex trafficking in 2010
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: and 11, J.P. Morgan's response was to send Staley in
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: 2011 to obtain Epstein's denial on which the bank hung
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: its hat. J.P. Morgan was at all times required by
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: the federal law to perform due diligence on its customers
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: and file SARS with the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: While Epstein was a customer, redacted, or performed even basic
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: due diligence on Epstein, even though he was high-risk. During
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: this time, J.P. Morgan benefited from Epstein's wealth and connections.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: Epstein helped and promised to help Staley recruit ultra-wealthy clients
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: to J.P. Morgan. Epstein introduced Staley to the owner of
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: Highbridge Capital Management, LLC, one of the country's largest hedge funds. J.P.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: Morgan subsequently acquired Highbridge, which catapulted Staley's career with and
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: beyond J.P. Morgan. In 2011, Epstein helped Staley to pitch
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: the creation of a donor-advised fund, which would be an
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: exclusive club, with a minimum $ 100 million donation. Epstein continued
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: trafficking and sexually abusing young women and female children until
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: his arrest in 2019. It was only after Epstein's death
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: in federal detention in August 2019, redacted, that JP Morgan
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: acknowledged that redacted and JP Morgan's illegal conduct, which continued
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: until 2019, caused repeated and continuous harm to the Virgin
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: Islands and its residents. All right, we're going to wrap
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: up right here. And in the next episode, we're going
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: to pick up with the argument. All of the information
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: that goes with this episode can be found in the
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: description box.