Latest / The Epstein Chronicles / Mega Edition: The Backyard Brawl Between The USVI And JP Morgan (9/8/26)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles.
- 0:05Speaker 1: The bare-knuckle brawl down in the U.S. Virgin Islands is
- 0:09Speaker 1: in full swing, with the U.S. Virgin Islands itself being
- 0:12Speaker 1: accused of enabling Jeffrey Epstein by giving him favorable business
- 0:16Speaker 1: deals and looking the other way while he was conducting
- 0:20Speaker 1: his disgusting business for decades. However, it's not just the U.S.
- 0:26Speaker 1: Virgin Islands here that's being called on the carpet. It's
- 0:29Speaker 1: also J.P. Morgan. And the U.S. Virgin Islands has released
- 0:34Speaker 1: some new exhibits detailing J.P. Morgan's ties to Jeffrey Epstein. So,
- 0:40Speaker 1: let's dive into this article from the St. Thomas source
- 0:43Speaker 1: and let's see where things currently stand. Headline, VI releases
- 0:49Speaker 1: new exhibits detailing J.P. Morgan's Epstein ties. This article was
- 0:55Speaker 1: authored by Cian Cobb. New exhibits filed Tuesday in the
- 1:00Speaker 1: Virgin Island government's lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase reveal how the
- 1:05Speaker 1: bank's top brass continued to court Jeffrey Epstein for his
- 1:09Speaker 1: ties to some of the world's wealthiest individuals, even as
- 1:13Speaker 1: its compliance arm warned that he was a growing threat.
- 1:17Speaker 1: And when you have the compliance department telling you that
- 1:19Speaker 1: this isn't somebody we should be doing business with, you
- 1:22Speaker 1: should probably listen to the compliance department. That's what they're
- 1:26Speaker 1: there for, right? Their job is to make sure that
- 1:29Speaker 1: we're in compliance with all of the state and federal
- 1:33Speaker 1: laws that we have to be in compliance with. Unless,
- 1:35Speaker 1: of course, your boss, Jeff Staley, comes down and tells you, hey,
- 1:39Speaker 1: you know what? Look the other way here. Let's act
- 1:41Speaker 1: like this never happened. There's no way that Epstein's suspicious.
- 1:44Speaker 1: Look at all the money he's bringing in. And all
- 1:47Speaker 1: that bad stuff they say, it's all rumor. Jeffy's a
- 1:50Speaker 1: great guy. The exhibits include a June 7th letter to
- 1:54Speaker 1: Judge Jed Rakoff of Manhattan Federal Court that was previously
- 1:58Speaker 1: filed under seal, seeking to allow the V.I. Attorney General's
- 2:02Speaker 1: Office to reopen depositions in light of information it received
- 2:07Speaker 1: after questioning key witnesses in the case, including J.P. Morgan's
- 2:11Speaker 1: billionaire CEO, Jamie Dimon. Rakoff on Friday denied that motion,
- 2:16Speaker 1: and on Tuesday, the government unsealed 10 exhibits offering a
- 2:20Speaker 1: closer look at J.P. Morgan's relationship with Epstein, the wealthy
- 2:25Speaker 1: financier pedophile who died by apparent suicide in August of
- 2:29Speaker 1: 2019 while in custody in New York on federal child
- 2:33Speaker 1: sex trafficking charges. His primary residence was Little St. James,
- 2:38Speaker 1: his private island estate in St. Thomas. And if you
- 2:42Speaker 1: were getting all kinds of financial benefits for setting up
- 2:46Speaker 1: shop somewhere, wouldn't you go there too? We're getting reports
- 2:49Speaker 1: now that Epstein received up to $ 300 million in tax
- 2:53Speaker 1: incentives from the U.S. Virgin Islands. So if you were
- 2:56Speaker 1: getting those sorts of tax incentives and they were going
- 2:59Speaker 1: to rewrite or try to rewrite the offender's law for you,
- 3:03Speaker 1: why wouldn't you want to set up shop down on
- 3:05Speaker 1: this island? He knew that his great wealth could be
- 3:08Speaker 1: harnessed into a powerful tool in a place like Little St. James,
- 3:12Speaker 1: and in St. Thomas, where there's poverty. Wherever there's vulnerable
- 3:16Speaker 1: people to exploit, you know that somebody like Epstein won't
- 3:20Speaker 1: be far behind. The government's complaint, filed December 27th in
- 3:24Speaker 1: Manhattan federal court, claims J.P. Morgan violated the Federal Trafficking
- 3:29Speaker 1: Victims Protection Act and its services to Epstein, whom he
- 3:33Speaker 1: kept as a client even after his 2008 conviction for
- 3:37Speaker 1: procuring a minor for prostitution in Florida. The case is
- 3:41Speaker 1: scheduled for trial on October 23rd, and I don't think
- 3:44Speaker 1: they're going to settle. Like I've said before from the
- 3:47Speaker 1: very beginning, I think that JP Morgan is ready to
- 3:50Speaker 1: go to the mattresses here. They believe that U.S. Virgin
- 3:53Speaker 1: Islands should share some of the responsibility, and they don't
- 3:57Speaker 1: believe that they should be paying one single cent to
- 4:00Speaker 1: the U.S. Virgin Islands. You notice how quickly they paid
- 4:03Speaker 1: out the survivors, right? They knew that wasn't a winning proposition. This, however,
- 4:09Speaker 1: they feel like they can fight it. And every single
- 4:11Speaker 1: time the U.S. Virgin Islands has unleashed a new document
- 4:15Speaker 1: that says that J.P. Morgan is in bed with Epstein
- 4:20Speaker 1: or was in bed with Epstein, we see the same
- 4:22Speaker 1: thing by J.P. Morgan talking about the U.S. Virgin Islands
- 4:26Speaker 1: being complicit with what he was up to. And then
- 4:29Speaker 1: the rest of us are sitting around saying to ourselves,
- 4:32Speaker 1: As both of you keep firing off salvo after salvo,
- 4:35Speaker 1: all you're doing is further strengthening everyone's belief that you
- 4:39Speaker 1: all knew. So as these two parties wage all-out war,
- 4:43Speaker 1: looking to destroy each other, what they're really doing is
- 4:46Speaker 1: exposing themselves for the scoundrel-ass scuzzballs that they are. And
- 4:50Speaker 1: I know that none of you out there listening needed
- 4:52Speaker 1: to know that. You didn't need a refresher course on
- 4:55Speaker 1: how scummy the financial sector is, but... For the people
- 4:59Speaker 1: who don't follow the case closely, who might just be
- 5:01Speaker 1: learning about it, well, they're getting a whole ass face
- 5:04Speaker 1: full at just how scummy the biggest bank in the
- 5:07Speaker 1: United States is. Jeffrey Epstein connected JPMorgan Chase's executives with
- 5:13Speaker 1: some of the world's most high-profile and wealthy individuals, the V.I.
- 5:17Speaker 1: Attorney General's office said in a statement following Tuesday's filing.
- 5:22Speaker 1: The U.S. V.I.s can plan alleges, that in return for
- 5:25Speaker 1: bringing valuable new clients into the bank, JPMorgan Chase, through
- 5:30Speaker 1: its senior executives, including Mary Erdos, ignored the evidence of
- 5:34Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein's crimes and traded victims' public safety for its
- 5:38Speaker 1: own profits. What, have they been listening to the podcast?
- 5:41Speaker 1: Because that's been my mantra here from the jump. All
- 5:44Speaker 1: of these people, the U.S. Virgin Islands as well, have
- 5:47Speaker 1: put profits over people. So it's hypocritical at best to
- 5:51Speaker 1: see them say that in a filing. Friends in high places.
- 5:57Speaker 1: According to the government's filing, Epstein offered J.P. Morgan access
- 6:02Speaker 1: to such high-profile individuals as Prince Andrew of Great Britain,
- 6:06Speaker 1: Microsoft founder Bill Gates, American billionaire and private equity investor
- 6:11Speaker 1: Leon Black, former U.S. presidential advisor David Gergen, Israeli general
- 6:17Speaker 1: and politician Ehud Barak, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the
- 6:23Speaker 1: children of former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating, Lord Peter
- 6:27Speaker 1: Mandelson of the British government, the Agnelli family of Fiat
- 6:32Speaker 1: Motor Company fame, and the ruling sheikhs of Kuwait, Buran, Dubai,
- 6:38Speaker 1: and the United Arab Emirates, among many others. Meanwhile, employees
- 6:43Speaker 1: with the bank's compliance arm were sounding alarms that Epstein
- 6:47Speaker 1: was under federal investigation for child sex trafficking, which was
- 6:51Speaker 1: drawing press attention, and that the bank should drop him
- 6:54Speaker 1: as a client, according to the filings. When I worked
- 6:57Speaker 1: at the sportsbook, the second compliance got involved and they
- 7:01Speaker 1: told us that there was a player that was a risk,
- 7:04Speaker 1: that player was gone. It didn't matter how much money
- 7:06Speaker 1: that player was betting or what he was up to
- 7:09Speaker 1: or anything like that. the second you become a risk
- 7:12Speaker 1: and put the company's bottom line in jeopardy, you have
- 7:16Speaker 1: to be let go of as a client. And if
- 7:18Speaker 1: the institution continues to do business with you, even though
- 7:23Speaker 1: they know that you're risky and you're somebody that compliance
- 7:26Speaker 1: says shouldn't even have an account, well, then that company
- 7:30Speaker 1: who's doing business with you should be held liable for
- 7:33Speaker 1: whatever comes after it. And while J.P. Morgan hasn't admitted
- 7:38Speaker 1: any wrongs, they certainly paid out $ 290 million, right, in
- 7:42Speaker 1: recognition of their bullshit processes. And they've also recognized the
- 7:47Speaker 1: fact that Jeff Staley, who was Mr. Golden Boy over
- 7:51Speaker 1: at J.P. Morgan, was great friends with Epstein, was facilitating Epstein,
- 7:56Speaker 1: and according to reports, abused girls, or at least one
- 7:59Speaker 1: girl with Epstein. Meanwhile, he was an employee of J.P.
- 8:03Speaker 1: Morgan this whole entire time. So while Jess Staley certainly
- 8:07Speaker 1: shoulders a big part of the blame here, to act
- 8:10Speaker 1: like J.P. Morgan had no idea what was going on
- 8:13Speaker 1: and that they were blindsided by all of this is
- 8:16Speaker 1: just ridiculous. They knew all these executives were talking. They
- 8:20Speaker 1: were all talking about how bad Epstein was. You had
- 8:23Speaker 1: compliance telling them that Epstein shouldn't be a client. And
- 8:27Speaker 1: they continued on doing business with Epstein because it was
- 8:30Speaker 1: putting some more money in their pockets. That's just the
- 8:32Speaker 1: bottom line. That's cutting away all the fat and all
- 8:35Speaker 1: of the bullshit and just getting right down to it.
- 8:38Speaker 1: It was all about more profits and getting richer. JP
- 8:42Speaker 1: Morgan's top officials eventually ordered an internal investigation into the
- 8:46Speaker 1: bank's Epstein ties in 2019, a probe that became known
- 8:51Speaker 1: as Project Jeep. should have been known as Project BS.
- 8:55Speaker 1: It released an unredacted summary of those findings to the
- 8:58Speaker 1: government on May 30th, the last day for discovery in
- 9:01Speaker 1: the case, according to Tuesday's filing. According to the summary,
- 9:06Speaker 1: a 22-page bulleted list detailing emails between Epstein, Jess Daly,
- 9:11Speaker 1: the former CEO of Investment Banking, Erdos, the CEO of
- 9:15Speaker 1: Asset and Wealth Management, and occasionally others, dating back to 2008.
- 9:21Speaker 1: Epstein was actively involved in the business of J.P. Morgan,
- 9:25Speaker 1: particularly through Staley. J.P. Morgan in March filed a third
- 9:30Speaker 1: party lawsuit against Staley, alleging he thwarted its efforts to
- 9:34Speaker 1: sever ties with Epstein and should pay if the V.I.
- 9:37Speaker 1: government prevails in its suit. Rakoff in April denied Staley's
- 9:41Speaker 1: motion to dismiss the suit. And JP Morgan is really
- 9:46Speaker 1: going hard here, saying that it was all Jess Daly's fault.
- 9:50Speaker 1: All of the blame is on him. Meanwhile, JP Morgan
- 9:54Speaker 1: and the bosses above Jeff Staley could have put a
- 9:57Speaker 1: stop to this at any point in time. They didn't.
- 10:01Speaker 1: So not only is it Jeff Staley's fault, it's also
- 10:04Speaker 1: the fault of the people that were above him. There
- 10:06Speaker 1: needs to be accountability from top to bottom. According to
- 10:10Speaker 1: the Project Jeep summary, the pair had a close relationship
- 10:13Speaker 1: with Staley, maintaining communications even while Epstein was serving time
- 10:18Speaker 1: in Florida On the child prostitution charges. Staley consulted Epstein.
- 10:23Speaker 1: On everything from his compensation package. And his dealings with
- 10:26Speaker 1: the Federal Reserve. To the bank's real estate portfolio. And
- 10:30Speaker 1: his promotion. To CEO of Investment Banking. In 2009. To
- 10:35Speaker 1: asset acquisitions. And JP Morgan's forays into China. According to
- 10:41Speaker 1: the exhibit. In an October 2009 email. Epstein wrote to Staley.
- 10:46Speaker 1: Feel free to call often. it is difficult for the
- 10:48Speaker 1: quarterback to see the playing field. That's why he calls
- 10:51Speaker 1: up to the box. Egg dick making football references cracks
- 10:55Speaker 1: me up. You know this dude ain't never strapped on
- 10:57Speaker 1: a helmet. Bro has never ran a route across the
- 11:00Speaker 1: center of the field and got lit up by a linebacker.
- 11:04Speaker 1: Shut up with the football references and stick to shit
- 11:06Speaker 1: you know, like stealing and molesting people. A few days later,
- 11:11Speaker 1: he wrote to Staley, my suggestion, your first great move
- 11:14Speaker 1: should be a new China initiative. First it was alternative investments,
- 11:19Speaker 1: now China. You should have a dedicated China entity with
- 11:23Speaker 1: its own board of advisors should include China politicos. They
- 11:27Speaker 1: love to travel. You should be their link to Treasury
- 11:30Speaker 1: or can issue credit default swaps for their investment in
- 11:34Speaker 1: the U.S. And you can ask Treasury to be the
- 11:38Speaker 1: third party. Just an example. Brilliant, Staley replied. Imagine being
- 11:44Speaker 1: the head of the division over here at J.P. Morgan
- 11:48Speaker 1: and needing advice from Egg Dick Epstein? Epstein went on
- 11:52Speaker 1: to organize a tutorial for Staley on doing business in China,
- 11:56Speaker 1: according to the summary, and wrote an extensive email laying
- 12:00Speaker 1: out the steps for J.P. Morgan to expand its business
- 12:03Speaker 1: in the country, down to details surrounding the culture, office locations,
- 12:08Speaker 1: and suggestions for approaching government officials. Epstein giving advice on
- 12:13Speaker 1: how to approach government officials? I wonder why he'd do that.
- 12:17Speaker 1: He's never been in bed with any government officials, right? Right?
- 12:23Speaker 1: Epstein also suggested Staley might want to approach Abu Dhabi
- 12:27Speaker 1: and say, as a key player in the world financial system,
- 12:30Speaker 1: you will advise them for free if and only if
- 12:33Speaker 1: they decide to implement your advice. Sale of assets, That's
- 12:37Speaker 1: how you'll be compensated. Just an idea. Yeah, but Epstein
- 12:41Speaker 1: wasn't involved in any kind of money laundering, right? No
- 12:44Speaker 1: need for Rico here. I'm just, you know, way off
- 12:47Speaker 1: base with the whole entire Rico run. A day later,
- 12:51Speaker 1: on November 29th, 2009, Staley forwarded Epstein what appeared to
- 12:56Speaker 1: be an internal email regarding discussions with senior officials in
- 13:00Speaker 1: the Dubai and Abu Dhabi Departments of Finance, according to
- 13:04Speaker 1: the summary. Two days later, Epstein wrote to Staley, the
- 13:08Speaker 1: first most elegant deal that you can do is to
- 13:11Speaker 1: have China buy Dubai World Ports. They want turnkey operations
- 13:16Speaker 1: where they can use their worldwide construction companies for building.
- 13:19Speaker 1: Would be a first great deal for the new CEO
- 13:22Speaker 1: of the IB. A close friendship. On December 3rd, 2009,
- 13:27Speaker 1: Staley wrote to Epstein, I realized the danger in sending
- 13:31Speaker 1: this email, but it was great to be able, today,
- 13:34Speaker 1: to give you, in New York City, a long, heartfelt hug.
- 13:38Speaker 1: To my friend, thanks. Jess. According to the summary, it
- 13:43Speaker 1: appears that at the time Epstein was not permitted to
- 13:46Speaker 1: leave the state of Florida, based on the terms of
- 13:48Speaker 1: his sentence, which provides context to the preface of Staley's email.
- 13:54Speaker 1: The relationship extended to the U.S. Virgin Islands, which Staley
- 13:57Speaker 1: appears to have visited with some frequency, including on his sailboat, Bequia,
- 14:02Speaker 1: according to court filings. On December 26, 2009, he wrote
- 14:05Speaker 1: to Epstein, Epstein replied, We have all the on-field permits,
- 14:18Speaker 1: helicopter also available for a tour around. Remember, I own
- 14:23Speaker 1: the two big marinas, Yacht Haven Grand in St. Thomas
- 14:26Speaker 1: and the marina at Red Hook. You can use my ATVs,
- 14:30Speaker 1: jet ski, gym, etc. I will organize the harbor at
- 14:33Speaker 1: Norman Island if you like, as well as lunch at Gawana.
- 14:38Speaker 1: On January 14th, 2010, Staley wrote to Epstein, arrived at
- 14:42Speaker 1: your harbor, someday we'll have to do this together. By
- 14:46Speaker 1: March 5th, 2011, as news of investigations, and Epstein was
- 14:50Speaker 1: taking hold in the press, he emailed Staley, more bad press,
- 14:54Speaker 1: ignore it. Staley replied, the Post? Epstein replied, no. English
- 15:00Speaker 1: papers have gone berserk, claiming FBI reopening investigation, not true.
- 15:05Speaker 1: Publishing a phone book, that is not mine, but was
- 15:08Speaker 1: stolen by my houseman, currently in prison, for doing so.
- 15:12Speaker 1: So he was trying to get out in front of
- 15:14Speaker 1: the story, and sending all of these absurd emails like
- 15:17Speaker 1: he wasn't involved in any of this. And Mr. Big Shot, Mr.
- 15:20Speaker 1: Smartest Man in the Room, Jeff Staley, sucked it all up.
- 15:24Speaker 1: The same day, Staley wrote to Epstein that he and
- 15:27Speaker 1: his wife were talking tonight about what you have meant
- 15:30Speaker 1: to me and to Redacted. You have paid a price
- 15:33Speaker 1: for what has been accused, but we know that you
- 15:35Speaker 1: have done for us, and we count you as one
- 15:37Speaker 1: of our deepest friends and most honest of people. Thanks, Jeff,
- 15:42Speaker 1: Epstein replied. Now keep in mind that Staley told us
- 15:45Speaker 1: that him and Epstein were just acquaintances, remember. They weren't close,
- 15:49Speaker 1: they weren't buddies, and it was just all a big misunderstanding,
- 15:53Speaker 1: if you will. Well, that's not the case. We know
- 15:56Speaker 1: how close they are, and we know how close they were.
- 15:59Speaker 1: And the fact that Jeff Staley lied about something like
- 16:01Speaker 1: that tells us everything we need to know about the
- 16:05Speaker 1: rest of his story. Three days later, Vanity Fair published
- 16:08Speaker 1: an article about Epstein and his one-time girlfriend and accomplice,
- 16:12Speaker 1: Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for
- 16:16Speaker 1: her role in his sex trafficking scheme. Trouble on the
- 16:20Speaker 1: Horizon Beginning in 2011, Staley and Erdos were having regular
- 16:25Speaker 1: communications with Epstein relating to certain strategic initiatives and business proposals,
- 16:31Speaker 1: including a donor-advised fund involving Bill Gates, that he proposed
- 16:36Speaker 1: could be worth $ 2 billion within two years, according to
- 16:39Speaker 1: the exhibit. Meanwhile, employees with J.P. Morgan's compliance arm held
- 16:45Speaker 1: a rapid response meeting in early January of 2011 regarding
- 16:50Speaker 1: Epstein and were conducting a review of the bank's relationship
- 16:53Speaker 1: with him amid reports that he was under investigation for
- 16:56Speaker 1: allegedly trafficking young girls, according to emails. Imagine that! You're
- 17:02Speaker 1: in the middle of doing this review, and you get
- 17:04Speaker 1: all of this information, and you still don't cut ties
- 17:06Speaker 1: with him? And this is after he's already been an offender? Again,
- 17:11Speaker 1: Epstein's personal friendship with Staley was at the center of
- 17:15Speaker 1: the discussion. He is also an alleged personal associate of
- 17:20Speaker 1: the CEO of the investment bank, Jeff Staley. The email
- 17:24Speaker 1: from Philip DeLuca, then managing director for the bank's financial
- 17:28Speaker 1: intelligence unit, to two other employees started. Anti-Money Laundering Operations
- 17:33Speaker 1: went to a PB Risk meeting late last week requesting
- 17:37Speaker 1: that we exit this relationship. It said in a meeting
- 17:40Speaker 1: that was arranged with Staley to discuss the bank's recent
- 17:43Speaker 1: human trafficking initiative with him. Says it right there. He
- 17:47Speaker 1: was laundering money through JP Morgan. We all know this.
- 17:51Speaker 1: The whole world knows it. How is it that nobody's
- 17:54Speaker 1: ever been slapped in connection with that? It was more
- 17:57Speaker 1: than two years before the bank severed its ties with Epstein,
- 18:01Speaker 1: though it kept close tabs on his activity as a
- 18:03Speaker 1: high-risk private bank customer, including annual reviews according to two
- 18:08Speaker 1: exhibits detailing conversations in 2012 and 2013. J.P. Morgan has
- 18:16Speaker 1: called the V.I. government suit a masterclass in deflection. Key
- 18:20Speaker 1: to their argument is the fact that the V.I. government,
- 18:23Speaker 1: through its Economic Development Commission, granted Epstein lucrative tax and
- 18:27Speaker 1: other benefits during the same period that it is accusing
- 18:31Speaker 1: JPMorgan Chase of helping further the wealthy financier pedophile's sex
- 18:36Speaker 1: trafficking scheme. The bank contends that having won a $ 105
- 18:41Speaker 1: million settlement in its lawsuit against Epstein's estate in November,
- 18:46Speaker 1: the V.I. Attorney General's office now casts a field for
- 18:49Speaker 1: deeper pockets. And I don't disagree with that. I've said
- 18:53Speaker 1: that for a while. that the U.S. Virgin Islands and
- 18:56Speaker 1: the way they're going about their business here is just
- 18:58Speaker 1: straight-up ridiculous. But that doesn't mean J.P. Morgan shouldn't be
- 19:02Speaker 1: on the hook either. They should be. On June 12th, J.P.
- 19:07Speaker 1: Morgan asked the court to order the government to withdraw
- 19:11Speaker 1: confidentiality designations over public records it produced in response to
- 19:15Speaker 1: the bank's document request. On Friday, Judge Rakoff granted that
- 19:20Speaker 1: request ordering the USVI to de-designate as confidential the annual
- 19:26Speaker 1: reports filed by Epstein's companies to the USVI as well
- 19:30Speaker 1: as his sex offender file. I find it fascinating that
- 19:35Speaker 1: in the effort to burn each other to the ground, J.P.
- 19:39Speaker 1: Morgan and the U.S. Virgin Islands are exposing a lot
- 19:43Speaker 1: of the corruption within the U.S. Virgin Islands and JP
- 19:47Speaker 1: Morgan itself. And while they battle tooth and nail over
- 19:51Speaker 1: a settlement here, I think that overall they're doing more
- 19:54Speaker 1: harm to themselves than they could possibly imagine. And they're
- 19:57Speaker 1: opening the door to other people, namely the survivors, to
- 20:01Speaker 1: getting involved and filing suit as well. And my guess is,
- 20:06Speaker 1: before the October trial date, there's going to be plenty
- 20:09Speaker 1: more twists, turns, and curves for us to navigate. Alright folks,
- 20:14Speaker 1: that's going to do it for this one. All of
- 20:15Speaker 1: the information that goes with the episode can be found
- 20:18Speaker 1: in the description box. What's up everyone, and welcome back
- 20:22Speaker 1: to the Epstein Chronicles. The U.S. Virgin Islands is looking
- 20:27Speaker 1: to amend their lawsuit against J.P. Morgan, and they're looking
- 20:32Speaker 1: to add an obstruction charge to the other allegations that
- 20:36Speaker 1: they have already leveled at the banking giant. So today,
- 20:40Speaker 1: we have an article from the St. Thomas Source, and
- 20:43Speaker 1: we're going to get caught up on what's going on
- 20:45Speaker 1: with the lawsuit. So, let's just get right to it. Headline,
- 20:50Speaker 1: Virgin Islands Seeks New Charge Against J.P. Morgan Over Epstein Dealings.
- 20:56Speaker 1: This article was authored by Cian Cobb. The VI Attorney
- 21:01Speaker 1: General's Office is seeking to amend its complaint against JPMorgan
- 21:05Speaker 1: Chase to add a charge that the bank obstructed enforcement
- 21:09Speaker 1: of the Federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act in its business
- 21:13Speaker 1: dealings with the late disgraced financier, pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein. Well, yeah,
- 21:18Speaker 1: that's exactly what they were doing. Now, are they going
- 21:21Speaker 1: to be able to prove it in a court of law?
- 21:23Speaker 1: That's debatable, but that's exactly what was going on. The
- 21:28Speaker 1: thing is, these guys are well adept at protecting their
- 21:31Speaker 1: own interests, right? And they'll make sure that layer after
- 21:34Speaker 1: layer of protection is woven into their operation so that
- 21:38Speaker 1: they never get nailed. And if they do, they'll have
- 21:41Speaker 1: plausible deniability. Just look at what Jamie Dimon's doing right now.
- 21:45Speaker 1: Just look at what Jess Daly's doing right now. Nobody
- 21:48Speaker 1: ever accepting responsibility when things go left. The strategy is
- 21:52Speaker 1: let's just blame everybody else and hope to cause enough
- 21:56Speaker 1: confusion that everything just dies down with a fine because
- 21:59Speaker 1: that's what they're looking for. They want to pay some
- 22:02Speaker 1: money and get rid of all of this. That's the
- 22:04Speaker 1: end goal for JP Morgan. That's the end goal for
- 22:08Speaker 1: Deutsche Bank. And that's the end goal for Epstein's estate.
- 22:12Speaker 1: They don't want any of the information to see the
- 22:14Speaker 1: light of day. They want to pay out a few
- 22:16Speaker 1: bucks and have everything go away. J.P. Morgan opposed the
- 22:20Speaker 1: motion in a response on Tuesday, saying the government missed
- 22:23Speaker 1: the court's January 11th deadline to further amend its complaint
- 22:27Speaker 1: and lacks standing to do so in its parents' patriotic capacity,
- 22:32Speaker 1: under which a state has third-party standing to bring a
- 22:35Speaker 1: lawsuit when it implicates its interests for the well-being of
- 22:39Speaker 1: its citizens. The V.I. government alleges that J.P. Morgan's obstruction
- 22:44Speaker 1: directly reflects approximately and foreseeably harmed women and girls in
- 22:49Speaker 1: the Virgin Islands by directly resulting in them being caused
- 22:53Speaker 1: to engage in commercial sex acts and in other ways.
- 22:58Speaker 1: The filings are the latest in a flurry of activity
- 23:01Speaker 1: in the case, including a third-party suit by J.P. Morgan
- 23:04Speaker 1: against its former executive, James Jess Daly, asking the New
- 23:08Speaker 1: York court to make him pay if the plaintiffs prevail
- 23:12Speaker 1: in their suits against the bank. And again, look, it's
- 23:15Speaker 1: always going to be somebody else's fault. Nobody's ever going
- 23:18Speaker 1: to step up and take responsibility for what happened here.
- 23:22Speaker 1: It's never going to happen. If you're waiting for people
- 23:24Speaker 1: in the financial sector to ever take responsibility for their bullshit,
- 23:29Speaker 1: you're going to be waiting for a long time. Staley
- 23:32Speaker 1: handled Epstein's 50 plus accounts and is at the center
- 23:36Speaker 1: of the government's complaint and another brought by an anonymous
- 23:40Speaker 1: Epstein survivor, Jane Doe number one. who has also filed
- 23:44Speaker 1: a suit against Deutsche Bank, where Epstein took his business
- 23:48Speaker 1: after Staley moved on to Blue Mountain Capital in 2013,
- 23:51Speaker 1: and then to Barclays Bank in 2015. The cases have
- 23:57Speaker 1: been consolidated by U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff. And
- 24:03Speaker 1: we know that Judge Rakoff is really not a big
- 24:06Speaker 1: fan of Wall Street in the first place, so hopefully
- 24:09Speaker 1: his tolerance for shenanigans will from J.P. Morgan and Deutsche
- 24:13Speaker 1: Bank will be at a minimum. The suits allege that J.P.
- 24:17Speaker 1: Morgan ignored red flags concerning Epstein, his accounts, and Staley's
- 24:22Speaker 1: close relationship with the wealthy financier, pedophile, a convicted sex
- 24:27Speaker 1: offender whose primary residence was Little St. James, his private
- 24:31Speaker 1: island estate located off of St. Thomas. Epstein was found
- 24:36Speaker 1: dead by apparent suicide in August of 2019 and in
- 24:40Speaker 1: a New York City jail cell where he was being
- 24:43Speaker 1: held on federal human trafficking charges. Those charges stemmed from
- 24:48Speaker 1: investigations into his controversial 2008 non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors
- 24:55Speaker 1: in Florida, under which he pled guilty to state charges
- 24:59Speaker 1: of soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution, despite evidence
- 25:04Speaker 1: that dozens more girls were involved. He served 13 months
- 25:08Speaker 1: in a work release program at the office of a
- 25:10Speaker 1: foundation he started, made payments to victims, and became a
- 25:15Speaker 1: registered sex offender. Well, not in New Mexico, he didn't.
- 25:18Speaker 1: He certainly wasn't a registered sex offender there. And as
- 25:22Speaker 1: far as what went down in Florida, as far as
- 25:24Speaker 1: the non-prosecution agreement, hopefully we're going to learn a little
- 25:27Speaker 1: bit more about that because it looks like the grand
- 25:30Speaker 1: jury documents, the transcripts, are going to be released. And
- 25:34Speaker 1: that'll give us a window into the process and into
- 25:38Speaker 1: what happened inside of that room. Considering they only brought
- 25:41Speaker 1: one witness up against Jeffrey Epstein and his friends, I
- 25:45Speaker 1: would like an answer as to why. Considering there were
- 25:48Speaker 1: dozens of girls who had come forward and brought allegations,
- 25:53Speaker 1: why is it that only one girl was brought up
- 25:55Speaker 1: as a witness to the grand jury? So there's just
- 25:59Speaker 1: so many things that need to be explained still after
- 26:02Speaker 1: all of these years. That still have not been explained.
- 26:07Speaker 1: Staley exchanged approximately 1,200 emails with Epstein from his JP
- 26:11Speaker 1: Morgan email account between 2008 and 2013, none of which
- 26:16Speaker 1: were flagged in connection with risk reviews of the financier
- 26:20Speaker 1: pedophile's accounts, according to the USVI's complaints. The VI government
- 26:26Speaker 1: has alleged that those emails included photos of young women
- 26:29Speaker 1: in provocative poses, Discussed Epstein's provision of services to Staley
- 26:34Speaker 1: during his travel to Little St. James and elsewhere on
- 26:37Speaker 1: dates that closely correspond with Epstein's payments to the same
- 26:42Speaker 1: young woman from his J.P. Morgan accounts. And discussed young
- 26:46Speaker 1: women or girls procured by Epstein using the names of
- 26:50Speaker 1: Disney princesses. As if they couldn't get more vile, right?
- 26:54Speaker 1: Let's use the name of princesses from little kid stories,
- 26:57Speaker 1: you bunch of sick, disgusting degenerates. For his part, Staley
- 27:02Speaker 1: on Thursday filed a motion to have his case heard separately,
- 27:06Speaker 1: citing an inability to comply with the court's deadlines for
- 27:09Speaker 1: discovery and the trial date of October 23rd. J.P. Morgan
- 27:14Speaker 1: opposed that request in a reply on Friday. And we
- 27:17Speaker 1: talked a little bit about that last week and how
- 27:20Speaker 1: the U.S. Virgin Islands, they don't want the trial split.
- 27:23Speaker 1: They want Jeff Staley and J.P. Morgan on the hook
- 27:26Speaker 1: together at the same time. A case for a second count.
- 27:32Speaker 1: In an order on March 20th, Judge Rakoff said count
- 27:35Speaker 1: one of the Virgin Island government's first amended complaint that J.P.
- 27:39Speaker 1: Morgan knowingly benefited from participating in a sex trafficking venture
- 27:45Speaker 1: in violation of the Federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act, or TVPA,
- 27:50Speaker 1: would remain, but dismissed two counts under the Virgin Islands
- 27:55Speaker 1: Criminally Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, otherwise known as SECO,
- 27:59Speaker 1: and another under the Territories Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business
- 28:04Speaker 1: Practices Act. In its motion to file a second amended
- 28:08Speaker 1: complaint on Monday, the V.I. government now seeks to add
- 28:12Speaker 1: account that the bank obstructed enforcement of the TVPA, noting
- 28:17Speaker 1: that the judge in his March order allowed that charge
- 28:20Speaker 1: to stand in those suit against J.P. Morgan. So what
- 28:24Speaker 1: they're doing basically is is piggybacking off of the other
- 28:28Speaker 1: allegation in the other lawsuit because the judge has already
- 28:32Speaker 1: allowed that. So it's a pretty shrewd move from the
- 28:35Speaker 1: Virgin Islands and one that is probably going to see
- 28:38Speaker 1: them hit some pay dirt because the courts and judges, well,
- 28:42Speaker 1: they love precedent. And with Judge Rakoff already ruling in
- 28:45Speaker 1: the other case that it can go forward, it would
- 28:47Speaker 1: make sense that he would give the nod here to
- 28:49Speaker 1: this amended lawsuit filed by the Virgin Islands. The bank
- 28:54Speaker 1: argues that the government is belatedly piggybacking on those complained. Well,
- 28:59Speaker 1: that's how it works. When new information is provided, we
- 29:02Speaker 1: go back and we amend our complaint. I don't see
- 29:04Speaker 1: JP Morgan having any kind of tenable ground here to
- 29:08Speaker 1: defend what they're saying. The USVI's motion for leave to
- 29:12Speaker 1: amend comes far too late, according to JP Morgan's reply.
- 29:17Speaker 1: It provided 100,000 pages of documents in 2021 when subpoenaed,
- 29:22Speaker 1: In the USVI's lawsuit against Epstein's estate, which was settled
- 29:25Speaker 1: in December for $ 105 million, then was contacted by the
- 29:30Speaker 1: government with suggestions the bank may have violated the Territory
- 29:34Speaker 1: SECO Act. It said JPMC was in the process of
- 29:39Speaker 1: explaining to USVI. why those dismissed allegations lacked merit when
- 29:43Speaker 1: it was sued by Jane Doe 1 for alleged violations
- 29:47Speaker 1: of the TVPA and now a consolidated case. USVI then
- 29:52Speaker 1: followed Doe's lead following suit in this court alleging for
- 29:56Speaker 1: the first time a TVPA violation. The reply stated now
- 30:01Speaker 1: months after this court's January 11th, 2023 deadline to file
- 30:06Speaker 1: an amended complaint. USVI once again tries to jump on
- 30:09Speaker 1: the bandwagon. This is an inordinate delay for which USVI
- 30:15Speaker 1: has not met its burden to satisfactorily explain. The bank
- 30:18Speaker 1: stated saying the government had the same facts for its
- 30:22Speaker 1: proposed new claim when it filed its initial complaint on
- 30:25Speaker 1: December 27th and its first amended complaint. on January 10th.
- 30:30Speaker 1: So they're contending that this is just a piggyback, and
- 30:33Speaker 1: it is. But I think that Judge Rakoff is going
- 30:36Speaker 1: to allow it to move forward. At the very least,
- 30:41Speaker 1: USVI should have sought leave to amend immediately after January 13th, 2023,
- 30:47Speaker 1: when Doe asserted her claim alleging obstruction of the TVPA.
- 30:52Speaker 1: Yet USVI inexplicably waited months while JPMC's motion to dismiss
- 30:58Speaker 1: was briefed and argued before it sought to assert its
- 31:01Speaker 1: copycat claim. Indeed, USVI waited to piggyback on Doe's obstruction
- 31:07Speaker 1: claim until the court's denial of JPMC's motion to dismiss
- 31:11Speaker 1: that count in Doe. USVI has offered no satisfactory explanation
- 31:17Speaker 1: for its months-long delay, according to the reply, loopholes and technicalities.
- 31:22Speaker 1: That's what it comes down to. These people never want
- 31:25Speaker 1: to answer for anything. So it'll be, oh, it wasn't
- 31:28Speaker 1: filed correctly. It wasn't filed soon enough. And they'll always
- 31:32Speaker 1: tiptoe around the real issue here. And the issue is J.P.
- 31:35Speaker 1: Morgan was financially backing Jeffrey Epstein and they were enabling
- 31:40Speaker 1: his bullshit. The V.I. government asserts in its 43 page
- 31:45Speaker 1: motion that because the additional claim is based on the
- 31:48Speaker 1: same alleged facts in its first amended complaint. It does
- 31:52Speaker 1: not either require JP Morgan to expend additional resources on
- 31:56Speaker 1: discovery or trial preparation or delay the resolution of this action.
- 32:02Speaker 1: It also notes that Doe already is litigating the obstruction
- 32:05Speaker 1: claim based on the same alleged facts in her case
- 32:09Speaker 1: that is scheduled for a consolidated trial with this case. Moreover,
- 32:14Speaker 1: the government alleges that within three days of the judge's
- 32:17Speaker 1: March 20th order dismissing its SECO claim but upholding Doe's
- 32:21Speaker 1: TVPA obstruction claim, it asked JP Morgan's consent to amend
- 32:26Speaker 1: to conform its remaining TVPA claim with Doe's remaining TVPA
- 32:31Speaker 1: claims based on the same fact allegations. The bank refused,
- 32:36Speaker 1: it said, so the USVI has sought leave of the court.
- 32:40Speaker 1: The government thus acted with diligence. Moreover, even if it
- 32:44Speaker 1: had not, it still should be granted leave to amend
- 32:47Speaker 1: because J.P. Morgan cannot show prejudice, according to the government's
- 32:51Speaker 1: memorandum of law, in support of the second amended complaint.
- 32:56Speaker 1: So it's going to be a back and forth affair here,
- 32:58Speaker 1: and both sides are going to look to press the issue, right?
- 33:01Speaker 1: The question is, which side is going to press the
- 33:04Speaker 1: right issue with the judge? Some new details. The government's
- 33:09Speaker 1: latest motion, while still heavily redacted, contains some new information,
- 33:13Speaker 1: including J.P. Morgan's 2011 review of Epstein's accounts that noted,
- 33:19Speaker 1: a few news stories during 2010 connects Jeffrey Epstein to
- 33:23Speaker 1: human trafficking. The coverage team all met to discuss the
- 33:26Speaker 1: situation and agreed to enhance monitoring and document a discussion
- 33:31Speaker 1: with the client. They called on none other than Staley
- 33:34Speaker 1: to do so, according to the motion, who discussed the
- 33:37Speaker 1: topic with Jeffrey Epstein, who replied there was no truth
- 33:41Speaker 1: to the allegations, no evidence, and was not expecting any problems.
- 33:45Speaker 1: We will continue to monitor the accounts and cash usage
- 33:49Speaker 1: closely going forward. Yeah, they did a good job at that, huh?
- 33:52Speaker 1: Considering all of these alleged victims and survivors got money
- 33:56Speaker 1: from Jeffrey Epstein's bank accounts as he was paying them off. So, yeah,
- 34:01Speaker 1: they did a great job with monitoring what Epstein was
- 34:05Speaker 1: up to and what his account was up to. In
- 34:08Speaker 1: March of 2011, J.P. Morgan's Global Corporate Security Division reported
- 34:13Speaker 1: that numerous articles detail various law enforcement agencies investigating Jeffrey
- 34:19Speaker 1: Epstein for allegedly participating directly or indirectly in child trafficking
- 34:24Speaker 1: and molesting underage girls. Jeffrey Epstein has settled a dozen
- 34:28Speaker 1: civil lawsuits out of court from his victims regarding solicitation
- 34:33Speaker 1: for an undisclosed amount, according to the government's motion. So
- 34:36Speaker 1: they all knew, this is what I've been talking about.
- 34:39Speaker 1: JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, the government, everybody knew what he
- 34:42Speaker 1: was doing and nobody lifted a finger to stop him. Additionally,
- 34:47Speaker 1: it claims, the bank's anti-money laundering director in August 2011
- 34:52Speaker 1: flagged an account relating to Ghislaine Maxwell Epstein's former companion, co-conspirator,
- 34:57Speaker 1: general all-around scuzzbag, fellow child abuser, and bipedal serpent, who
- 35:02Speaker 1: in 2021 was sentenced to 20 years in prison for
- 35:05Speaker 1: conspiring with him to sexually abuse minors. Maxwell wanted to
- 35:09Speaker 1: set up an account for her personal recruitment consulting business,
- 35:13Speaker 1: it says. In an eternal email, J.P. Morgan's AML director asked,
- 35:18Speaker 1: what does she mean by personal recruitment? Are you sure
- 35:21Speaker 1: this will have nothing to do with Jeffrey? If you
- 35:23Speaker 1: want to proceed, I suggest that we flag this as
- 35:27Speaker 1: a high-risk client. They knew she was high-risk, they flagged
- 35:30Speaker 1: her as high-risk, and continued to do business with her.
- 35:34Speaker 1: Because again, profits over people when it comes to the banks.
- 35:39Speaker 1: Despite these communications, the bank did not terminate its relationship
- 35:43Speaker 1: with Epstein until 2013, the government asserts. The frequency of
- 35:48Speaker 1: Epstein's payments and the fact that the vast majority of
- 35:51Speaker 1: account activity was payments to women and cash withdrawals rather
- 35:55Speaker 1: than business activity should have been enough to trigger action,
- 35:58Speaker 1: the motion states. Yeah, there's checks and balances that are
- 36:02Speaker 1: supposed to be in place at a financial institution to
- 36:05Speaker 1: stop shit like this from happening. But when you have
- 36:07Speaker 1: everybody in on it, all the bosses, all the head honchos, well,
- 36:11Speaker 1: what are you going to do? Yet, even as late
- 36:14Speaker 1: as May 2013, mere months before J.P. Morgan terminated Epstein's account, J.P.
- 36:20Speaker 1: Morgan provided lines of credit to Epstein of up to
- 36:23Speaker 1: $ 50 million, it says. The motion also offers additional details
- 36:28Speaker 1: regarding Staley's communications with Epstein. In an email, it says
- 36:33Speaker 1: the married father of two daughters sent to Epstein on
- 36:36Speaker 1: November 1, 2009, when Epstein was incarcerated and Staley was presumably...
- 36:43Speaker 1: Visiting Little St. James, he wrote, So when all hell
- 36:46Speaker 1: breaks loose and the world is crumbling, I will come
- 36:49Speaker 1: here and be at peace. Presently, I'm in the hot
- 36:52Speaker 1: tub with a glass of white wine. This is an
- 36:55Speaker 1: amazing place. Truly amazing. Next time we're together, I owe
- 37:00Speaker 1: you much. And I deeply appreciate our friendship. I have
- 37:04Speaker 1: few that are so profound. And imagine this idiot, Jeff Staley,
- 37:08Speaker 1: is trying to distance himself. Bro, you wrote this email.
- 37:11Speaker 1: Nobody snuck into your house, stole your blackberry, and popped
- 37:14Speaker 1: off this email? Please stop with the bullshit. On December 4th, 2009,
- 37:20Speaker 1: Staley told Epstein via email, I realized the danger in
- 37:24Speaker 1: sending this email, but it was great to be able, today,
- 37:27Speaker 1: to give it to you in New York City. A long,
- 37:30Speaker 1: heartfelt hug, according to the motion. Imagine, I don't know
- 37:33Speaker 1: you very well, but I can't wait to come to
- 37:35Speaker 1: your island, and I can't wait to hug you, and
- 37:37Speaker 1: thank you so much for everything, Jeffrey. Give me a break.
- 37:42Speaker 1: The next day, Epstein wrote to Staley, you were with
- 37:45Speaker 1: Larry and I had to put up with and attach
- 37:48Speaker 1: the picture of a young woman. Staley quipped, don't tell
- 37:51Speaker 1: me a French wine. Epstein replied, always thoughts of alcohol,
- 37:55Speaker 1: the motion states. And that's funny. He says he was
- 37:58Speaker 1: with Larry, huh? I'm guessing Larry Summers. On December 20th, 2009,
- 38:04Speaker 1: the government says Epstein sent an email to Staley that
- 38:06Speaker 1: was blank except for a picture of a young woman.
- 38:10Speaker 1: On January 15, 2010, Staley emailed Epstein, referring to Little St. James.
- 38:17Speaker 1: Arrived at your harbor? Someday we have to do this together,
- 38:20Speaker 1: according to the motion. In July 2010, Staley sent an
- 38:25Speaker 1: email to Epstein saying, maybe they're tracking you. That was fun.
- 38:29Speaker 1: Say hi to Snow White, the motion states. Epstein responded,
- 38:33Speaker 1: what character would you like next? When Staley said Beauty
- 38:36Speaker 1: and the Beast, Epstein replied, well, one side is available.
- 38:41Speaker 1: Both J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank have denied wrongdoing, with J.P.
- 38:45Speaker 1: Morgan stating that the V.I. government's claims against it strain credulity. Look,
- 38:52Speaker 1: we all know what those emails meant. Come on. And
- 38:54Speaker 1: we all know that Jeff Staley, according to his own
- 38:57Speaker 1: words in these emails, was enjoying the fruits of Jeffrey
- 39:01Speaker 1: Epstein's disgusting enterprise. So, Jeff Staley, your bitch ass is
- 39:06Speaker 1: now on the clock. All right, folks, that's going to
- 39:09Speaker 1: do it for this one. All of the information that
- 39:11Speaker 1: goes with the episode can be found in the description box.
- 39:16Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles.
- 39:21Speaker 1: The bare-knuckle brawl down in the U.S. Virgin Islands is
- 39:25Speaker 1: in full swing, with the U.S. Virgin Islands itself being
- 39:28Speaker 1: accused of enabling generations Epstein by giving him favorable business
- 39:32Speaker 1: deals and looking the other way while he was conducting
- 39:36Speaker 1: his disgusting business for decades. However, it's not just the U.S.
- 39:42Speaker 1: Virgin Islands here that's being called on the carpet. It's
- 39:45Speaker 1: also J.P. Morgan. And the U.S. Virgin Islands has released
- 39:50Speaker 1: some new exhibits detailing J.P. Morgan's ties to Jeffrey Epstein. So,
- 39:56Speaker 1: let's dive into this article from the St. Thomas source,
- 39:59Speaker 1: and let's see where things currently stand. Headline, VI releases
- 40:05Speaker 1: new exhibits detailing J.P. Morgan's Epstein ties. This article was
- 40:11Speaker 1: authored by Cian Cobb. New exhibits filed Tuesday in the
- 40:16Speaker 1: Virgin Island government's lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase reveal how the
- 40:21Speaker 1: bank's top brass continued to court Jeffrey Epstein for his
- 40:25Speaker 1: ties to some of the world's wealthiest individuals, even as
- 40:29Speaker 1: its compliance arm warned that he was a growing threat.
- 40:33Speaker 1: And when you have the compliance department telling you that
- 40:35Speaker 1: this isn't somebody we should be doing business with, you
- 40:38Speaker 1: should probably listen to the compliance department. That's what they're
- 40:42Speaker 1: there for, right? Their job is to make sure that
- 40:45Speaker 1: we're in compliance with all of the state and federal
- 40:49Speaker 1: laws that we have to be in compliance with. Unless,
- 40:51Speaker 1: of course, your boss, Jeff Staley, comes down and tells you, hey,
- 40:55Speaker 1: you know what? Look the other way here. Let's act
- 40:57Speaker 1: like this never happened. There's no way that Epstein's suspicious.
- 41:00Speaker 1: Look at all the money he's bringing in. And all
- 41:03Speaker 1: that bad stuff they say, it's all rumor. Jeffy's a
- 41:06Speaker 1: great guy. The exhibits include a June 7th letter to
- 41:10Speaker 1: Judge Jed Rakoff of Manhattan Federal Court that was previously
- 41:14Speaker 1: filed under seal, seeking to allow the V.I. Attorney General's
- 41:18Speaker 1: office to reopen depositions in light of information it received
- 41:23Speaker 1: after questioning key witnesses in the case, including J.P. Morgan's
- 41:27Speaker 1: billionaire CEO, Jamie Dimon. Rakoff on Friday denied that motion.
- 41:32Speaker 1: And on Tuesday, the government unsealed 10 exhibits offering a
- 41:36Speaker 1: closer look at J.P. Morgan's relationship with Epstein, the wealthy financier, pedophile,
- 41:42Speaker 1: who died by apparent suicide in August of 2019 while
- 41:46Speaker 1: in custody in New York on federal child sex trafficking charges.
- 41:52Speaker 1: His primary residence was Little St. James, his private island
- 41:55Speaker 1: estate in St. Thomas. And if you were getting all
- 41:59Speaker 1: kinds of financial benefits for setting up shop somewhere, wouldn't
- 42:03Speaker 1: you go there too? We're getting reports now that Epstein
- 42:06Speaker 1: received up to $ 300 million in tax incentives from the U.S.
- 42:10Speaker 1: Virgin Islands. So if you were getting those sorts of
- 42:13Speaker 1: tax incentives and they were going to rewrite or try
- 42:16Speaker 1: to rewrite the offender's law for you, why wouldn't you
- 42:19Speaker 1: want to set up shop down on this island? He
- 42:22Speaker 1: knew that his great wealth could be harnessed into a
- 42:24Speaker 1: powerful tool in a place like Little St. James and
- 42:28Speaker 1: in St. Thomas where there's poverty. Wherever there's vulnerable people,
- 42:33Speaker 1: To exploit, you know that somebody like Epstein won't be
- 42:36Speaker 1: far behind. The government's complaint, filed December 27th in Manhattan
- 42:40Speaker 1: federal court, claims J.P. Morgan violated the Federal Trafficking Victims
- 42:45Speaker 1: Protection Act and its services to Epstein, whom he kept
- 42:49Speaker 1: as a client even after his 2008 conviction for procuring
- 42:53Speaker 1: a minor for prostitution in Florida. The case is scheduled
- 42:57Speaker 1: for trial on October 23rd. And I don't think they're
- 43:01Speaker 1: going to settle. Like I've said before, from the very beginning,
- 43:04Speaker 1: I think that JP Morgan is ready to go to
- 43:06Speaker 1: the mattresses here. They believe that U.S. Virgin Islands should
- 43:10Speaker 1: share some of the responsibility and they don't believe that
- 43:13Speaker 1: they should be paying one single cent to the U.S.
- 43:16Speaker 1: Virgin Islands. You notice how quickly they paid out the survivors, right?
- 43:21Speaker 1: They knew that wasn't a winning proposition. This, however, they
- 43:25Speaker 1: feel like they can fight it. And every single time,
- 43:28Speaker 1: the U.S. Virgin Islands has unleashed a new document that
- 43:32Speaker 1: says that JP Morgan is in bed with Epstein or
- 43:36Speaker 1: was in bed with Epstein. We see the same thing
- 43:39Speaker 1: by JP Morgan talking about the U.S. Virgin Islands being
- 43:42Speaker 1: complicit with what he was up to. And then the
- 43:45Speaker 1: rest of us are sitting around saying to ourselves, As
- 43:48Speaker 1: both of you keep firing off salvo after salvo, all
- 43:51Speaker 1: you're doing is further strengthening everyone's belief that you all knew.
- 43:56Speaker 1: So as these two parties wage all-out war, looking to
- 43:59Speaker 1: destroy each other, what they're really doing is exposing themselves
- 44:03Speaker 1: for the scoundrel-ass scuzzballs that they are. And I know
- 44:06Speaker 1: that none of you out there listening needed to know that.
- 44:09Speaker 1: You didn't need a refresher course on how scummy the
- 44:12Speaker 1: financial sector is. But for the people who don't follow
- 44:15Speaker 1: the case closely, who might just be learning about it, well,
- 44:18Speaker 1: they're getting a whole ass face full at just how
- 44:21Speaker 1: scummy the biggest bank in the United States is. Jeffrey
- 44:25Speaker 1: Epstein connected JPMorgan Chase's executives with some of the world's
- 44:30Speaker 1: most high-profile and wealthy individuals. The V.I. Attorney General's office
- 44:34Speaker 1: said in a statement, Following Tuesday's filing, the USVI's complaint
- 44:39Speaker 1: alleges that in return for bringing valuable new clients into
- 44:43Speaker 1: the bank, JPMorgan Chase, through its senior executives, including Mary Erdos,
- 44:49Speaker 1: ignored the evidence of Jeffrey Epstein's crimes and traded victims'
- 44:52Speaker 1: public safety for its own profits. What have they been
- 44:56Speaker 1: listening to the podcast? Because that's been my mantra here
- 44:59Speaker 1: from the jump. All of these people, the US Virgin
- 45:02Speaker 1: Islands as well, have put profits over people. So it's
- 45:06Speaker 1: hypocritical at best to see them say that in a filing.
- 45:10Speaker 1: Friends in high places. According to the government's filing, Epstein
- 45:16Speaker 1: offered J.P. Morgan access to such high-profile individuals as Prince
- 45:21Speaker 1: Andrew of Great Britain, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, American billionaire
- 45:26Speaker 1: and private equity investor Leon Black, former U.S. presidential advisor
- 45:31Speaker 1: David Gergen, Israeli general and politician Ehud Barak, Israeli Prime
- 45:37Speaker 1: Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the children of former Australian Prime Minister
- 45:41Speaker 1: Paul Keating, Lord Peter Mandelson of the British government, the
- 45:46Speaker 1: Agnelli family of Fiat Motor Company fame, and the ruling
- 45:50Speaker 1: sheikhs of Kuwait, Buran, Dubai, and the United Arab Emirates,
- 45:56Speaker 1: among many others. Meanwhile, employees with the bank's compliance arm
- 46:00Speaker 1: were sounding alarms that Epstein was under federal investigation for
- 46:05Speaker 1: child sex trafficking, which was drawing press attention, and that
- 46:08Speaker 1: the bank should drop him as a client, according to
- 46:11Speaker 1: the filings. When I worked at the sportsbook, the second
- 46:14Speaker 1: compliance got involved and they told us that there was
- 46:18Speaker 1: a player that was a risk. That player was gone.
- 46:21Speaker 1: It didn't matter how much money that player was betting
- 46:24Speaker 1: or what he was up to or anything like that.
- 46:27Speaker 1: the second you become a risk and put the company's
- 46:29Speaker 1: bottom line in jeopardy, you have to be let go
- 46:33Speaker 1: of as a client. And if the institution continues to
- 46:36Speaker 1: do business with you, even though they know that you're
- 46:40Speaker 1: risky and you're somebody that compliance says shouldn't even have
- 46:43Speaker 1: an account, well, then that company who's doing business with
- 46:47Speaker 1: you should be held liable for whatever comes after it.
- 46:51Speaker 1: And while J.P. Morgan hasn't admitted any wrongs, they certainly
- 46:55Speaker 1: paid out $ 290 million, right, in recognition of their bullshit processes.
- 47:01Speaker 1: And they've also recognized the fact that Jeff Staley, who
- 47:04Speaker 1: was Mr. Golden Boy over at J.P. Morgan, was great
- 47:09Speaker 1: friends with Epstein, was facilitating Epstein, and according to reports,
- 47:13Speaker 1: abused girls or at least one girl with Epstein. Meanwhile,
- 47:18Speaker 1: he was an employee of J.P. Morgan this whole entire time.
- 47:21Speaker 1: So while Jeff Staley certainly shoulders a big part of
- 47:24Speaker 1: the blame here, to act like J.P. Morgan had no
- 47:28Speaker 1: idea what was going on and that they were blindsided
- 47:30Speaker 1: by all of this is just ridiculous. They knew all
- 47:34Speaker 1: these executives were talking. They were all talking about how
- 47:37Speaker 1: bad Epstein was. You had compliance telling them that Epstein
- 47:41Speaker 1: shouldn't be a client. And they continued on doing business
- 47:44Speaker 1: with Epstein because it was putting some more money in
- 47:47Speaker 1: their pockets. That's just the bottom line. That's cutting away
- 47:50Speaker 1: all the fat and all of the bullshit and just
- 47:53Speaker 1: getting right down to it. It was all about more
- 47:55Speaker 1: profits and getting richer. JP Morgan's top officials eventually ordered
- 48:00Speaker 1: an internal investigation into the bank's Epstein ties in 2019,
- 48:05Speaker 1: a probe that became known as Project Jeep. should have
- 48:09Speaker 1: been known as Project BS. It released an unredacted summary
- 48:12Speaker 1: of those findings to the government on May 30th, the
- 48:16Speaker 1: last day for discovery in the case, according to Tuesday's filing.
- 48:20Speaker 1: According to the summary, a 22-page bulleted list detailing emails
- 48:25Speaker 1: between Epstein, Jess Daly, the former CEO of Investment Banking, Erdos,
- 48:30Speaker 1: the CEO of Asset and Wealth Management, and occasionally others,
- 48:35Speaker 1: dating back to 2008. Epstein was actively involved in the
- 48:39Speaker 1: business of J.P. Morgan, particularly through Staley. J.P. Morgan in
- 48:45Speaker 1: March filed a third-party lawsuit against Staley, alleging he thwarted
- 48:49Speaker 1: its efforts to sever ties with Epstein and should pay
- 48:52Speaker 1: if the V.I. government prevails in its suit. Rakoff in
- 48:56Speaker 1: April denied Staley's motion to dismiss the suit. And JP
- 49:00Speaker 1: Morgan is really going hard here, saying that it was
- 49:04Speaker 1: all Jess Daly's fault. All of the blame is on him. Meanwhile,
- 49:09Speaker 1: JP Morgan and the bosses above Jess Daly could have
- 49:12Speaker 1: put a stop to this at any point in time.
- 49:16Speaker 1: They didn't. So not only is it Jeff Staley's fault,
- 49:19Speaker 1: it's also the fault of the people that were above him.
- 49:22Speaker 1: There needs to be accountability from top to bottom. According
- 49:26Speaker 1: to the Project Jeep summary, the pair had a close
- 49:28Speaker 1: relationship with Staley, maintaining communications even while Epstein was serving
- 49:33Speaker 1: time in Florida on the child prostitution charges. Staley consulted Epstein,
- 49:39Speaker 1: on everything from his compensation package and his dealings with
- 49:42Speaker 1: the Federal Reserve to the bank's real estate portfolio and
- 49:46Speaker 1: his promotion to CEO of Investment Banking in 2009, to
- 49:51Speaker 1: asset acquisitions and J.P. Morgan's forays into China, according to
- 49:57Speaker 1: the exhibit. In an October 2009 email, Epstein wrote to Staley,
- 50:02Speaker 1: Feel free to call often. It is difficult for the
- 50:04Speaker 1: quarterback to see the playing field. That's why he calls
- 50:07Speaker 1: up to the box. Egg dick making football references cracks
- 50:11Speaker 1: me up. You know this dude ain't never strapped on
- 50:13Speaker 1: a helmet. Bro has never ran a route across the
- 50:16Speaker 1: center of the field and got lit up by a linebacker.
- 50:19Speaker 1: Shut up with the football references and stick to shit
- 50:22Speaker 1: you know, like stealing and molesting people. A few days later,
- 50:27Speaker 1: he wrote to Staley, my suggestion, your first great move
- 50:30Speaker 1: should be a new China initiative. First, it was alternative investments,
- 50:35Speaker 1: now China. You should have a dedicated China entity. with
- 50:39Speaker 1: its own board of advisors, should include China politicos. They
- 50:43Speaker 1: love to travel. You should be their link to Treasury
- 50:46Speaker 1: or can issue credit default swaps for their investment in
- 50:50Speaker 1: the U.S. And you can ask Treasury to be the
- 50:54Speaker 1: third party. Just an example. Brilliant, Staley replied. Imagine being
- 51:00Speaker 1: the head of the division over here at J.P. Morgan
- 51:04Speaker 1: and needing advice from Egg Dick Epstein. Epstein went on
- 51:08Speaker 1: to organize a tutorial for Staley on doing business in China,
- 51:12Speaker 1: according to the summary, and wrote an extensive email laying
- 51:16Speaker 1: out the steps for J.P. Morgan to expand its business
- 51:19Speaker 1: in the country, down to details surrounding the culture, office locations,
- 51:24Speaker 1: and suggestions for approaching government officials. Epstein giving advice on
- 51:29Speaker 1: how to approach government officials? I wonder why he'd do that.
- 51:33Speaker 1: He's never been in bed with any government officials, right? Right?
- 51:39Speaker 1: Epstein also suggested Staley might want to approach Abu Dhabi
- 51:43Speaker 1: and say as a key player in the world financial system,
- 51:46Speaker 1: you will advise them for free. If and only if
- 51:49Speaker 1: they decide to implement your advice. Sale of assets, that's
- 51:53Speaker 1: how you'll be compensated. Just an idea. Yeah, but Epstein
- 51:57Speaker 1: wasn't involved in any kind of money laundering, right? No
- 52:00Speaker 1: need for Rico here. I'm just, you know, way off
- 52:03Speaker 1: base with the whole entire Rico run. A day later,
- 52:07Speaker 1: on November 29, 2009, Staley forwarded Epstein what appeared to
- 52:12Speaker 1: be an internal email regarding discussions with senior officials in
- 52:16Speaker 1: the Dubai and Abu Dhabi Departments of Finance, according to
- 52:20Speaker 1: the summary. Two days later, Epstein wrote to Staley, The
- 52:24Speaker 1: first most elegant deal that you can do is to
- 52:27Speaker 1: have China buy Dubai world ports. They want turnkey operations
- 52:32Speaker 1: where they can use their worldwide construction companies for building.
- 52:35Speaker 1: Would be a first great deal for the new CEO
- 52:38Speaker 1: of the IB. A close friendship. On December 3rd, 2009,
- 52:43Speaker 1: Staley wrote to Epstein, I realized the danger in sending
- 52:47Speaker 1: this email, but it was great to be able today
- 52:50Speaker 1: to give you, in New York City, a long, heartfelt hug.
- 52:54Speaker 1: To my friend, thanks. Jess According to the summary, it
- 52:59Speaker 1: appears that at the time Epstein was not permitted to
- 53:02Speaker 1: leave the state of Florida based on the terms of
- 53:04Speaker 1: his sentence, which provides context to the preface of Staley's email.
- 53:10Speaker 1: The relationship extended to the U.S. Virgin Islands, which Staley
- 53:13Speaker 1: appears to have visited with some frequency, including on his sailboat, Bequia,
- 53:18Speaker 1: according to court filings. On December 26, 2009, he wrote
- 53:23Speaker 1: to Epstein, Fun tonight. What do we do next? Epstein replied,
- 53:27Speaker 1: my car and driver, former DEA armed, will pick you
- 53:31Speaker 1: up in St. Thomas. We have all the on-field permits,
- 53:34Speaker 1: helicopter also available for a tour around. Remember, I own
- 53:39Speaker 1: the two big marinas, Yacht Haven Grand in St. Thomas
- 53:42Speaker 1: and the marina at Red Hook. You can use my ATVs,
- 53:46Speaker 1: jet ski, gym, etc. I will organize the harbor at
- 53:49Speaker 1: Norman Island if you like, as well as lunch at Gawana.
- 53:54Speaker 1: On January 14th, 2010, Staley wrote to Epstein, arrived at
- 53:58Speaker 1: your harbor, someday we'll have to do this together. By
- 54:02Speaker 1: March 5th, 2011, as news of investigations and Epstein was
- 54:06Speaker 1: taking hold in the press, he emailed Staley, more bad press,
- 54:10Speaker 1: ignore it. Staley replied, the Post? Epstein replied, no. English
- 54:15Speaker 1: papers have gone berserk, claiming FBI reopening investigation, not true.
- 54:21Speaker 1: Publishing a phone book, That is not mine, but was
- 54:24Speaker 1: stolen by my houseman, currently in prison, for doing so.
- 54:28Speaker 1: So he was trying to get out in front of
- 54:30Speaker 1: the story and sending all of these absurd emails like
- 54:33Speaker 1: he wasn't involved in any of this. And Mr. Big Shot, Mr.
- 54:36Speaker 1: Smartest Man in the Room, Jeff Staley, sucked it all up.
- 54:40Speaker 1: The same day, Staley wrote to Epstein that he and
- 54:43Speaker 1: his wife were talking tonight about what you have meant
- 54:46Speaker 1: to me and to Redacted. You have paid a price
- 54:49Speaker 1: for what has been accused, but we know that you
- 54:51Speaker 1: have done for us. and we count you as one
- 54:53Speaker 1: of our deepest friends and most honest of people. Thanks, Jess,
- 54:58Speaker 1: Epstein replied. Now keep in mind that Staley told us
- 55:01Speaker 1: that him and Epstein were just acquaintances, remember? They weren't close,
- 55:05Speaker 1: they weren't buddies, and it was just all a big misunderstanding,
- 55:09Speaker 1: if you will. Well, that's not the case. We know
- 55:12Speaker 1: how close they are, and we know how close they were.
- 55:15Speaker 1: And the fact that Jess Staley lied about something like
- 55:17Speaker 1: that tells us everything we need to know about the
- 55:20Speaker 1: rest of his story. Three days later, Vanity Fair published
- 55:24Speaker 1: an article about Epstein and his one-time girlfriend and accomplice,
- 55:28Speaker 1: Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for
- 55:32Speaker 1: her role in his sex trafficking scheme. Trouble on the
- 55:36Speaker 1: Horizon Beginning in 2011, Staley and Erdos were having regular
- 55:41Speaker 1: communications with Epstein relating to certain strategic initiatives and business proposals,
- 55:47Speaker 1: including a donor-advised fund involving Bill Gates, that he proposed
- 55:52Speaker 1: could be worth $ 2 billion within two years, according to
- 55:55Speaker 1: the exhibit. Meanwhile, employees with J.P. Morgan's compliance arm held
- 56:01Speaker 1: a rapid response meeting in early January of 2011 regarding
- 56:05Speaker 1: Epstein and were conducting a review of the bank's relationship
- 56:09Speaker 1: with him amid reports that he was under investigation for
- 56:12Speaker 1: allegedly trafficking young girls, according to emails. Imagine that! You're
- 56:18Speaker 1: in the middle of doing this review and you get
- 56:20Speaker 1: all of this information and you still don't cut ties
- 56:22Speaker 1: with them? And this is after he's already been an offender? Again,
- 56:27Speaker 1: Epstein's personal friendship with Staley was at the center of
- 56:31Speaker 1: the discussion. He is also an alleged personal associate of
- 56:35Speaker 1: the CEO of the investment bank, Jeff Staley. The email
- 56:39Speaker 1: from Philip DeLuca, then managing director for the bank's financial
- 56:44Speaker 1: intelligence unit, to two other employees started. anti-money laundering operations,
- 56:49Speaker 1: went to a PB Risk meeting late last week requesting
- 56:53Speaker 1: that we exit this relationship. It said in a meeting
- 56:56Speaker 1: that was arranged with Staley to discuss the bank's recent
- 56:59Speaker 1: human trafficking initiative with him. Says it right there. He
- 57:03Speaker 1: was laundering money through JP Morgan. We all know this.
- 57:07Speaker 1: The whole world knows it. How is it that nobody's
- 57:10Speaker 1: ever been slapped in connection with that? It was more
- 57:13Speaker 1: than two years before the bank severed its ties with Epstein,
- 57:16Speaker 1: though it kept close tabs on his activity as a
- 57:19Speaker 1: high-risk private bank customer, including annual reviews according to two
- 57:24Speaker 1: exhibits detailing conversations in 2012 and 2013. J.P. Morgan has
- 57:32Speaker 1: called the V.I. government suit a masterclass in deflection. Key
- 57:36Speaker 1: to their argument is the fact that the V.I. government,
- 57:39Speaker 1: through its Economic Development Commission, granted Epstein lucrative tax and
- 57:43Speaker 1: other benefits during the same period that it is accusing
- 57:47Speaker 1: JPMorgan Chase of helping further the wealthy financier pedophile's sex
- 57:52Speaker 1: trafficking scheme. The bank contends that having won a $ 105
- 57:57Speaker 1: million settlement in its lawsuit against Epstein's estate in November,
- 58:02Speaker 1: the V.I. Attorney General's office now casts a field for
- 58:05Speaker 1: deeper pockets. And I don't disagree with that. I've said
- 58:09Speaker 1: that for a while, that the U.S. Virgin Islands and
- 58:11Speaker 1: the way they're going about their business here is just
- 58:14Speaker 1: straight up ridiculous. But that doesn't mean J.P. Morgan shouldn't
- 58:18Speaker 1: be on the hook either. They should be. On June 12th, J.P.
- 58:23Speaker 1: Morgan asked the court to order the government to withdraw
- 58:27Speaker 1: confidentiality designations over public records it produced in response to
- 58:31Speaker 1: the bank's document request. On Friday, Judge Rakoff granted that
- 58:36Speaker 1: request ordering the USVI to de-designate as confidential the annual
- 58:42Speaker 1: reports filed by Epstein's companies to the USVI as well
- 58:46Speaker 1: as his sex offender file. I find it fascinating that
- 58:51Speaker 1: in the effort to burn each other to the ground, J.P.
- 58:55Speaker 1: Morgan and the U.S. Virgin Islands are exposing a lot
- 58:59Speaker 1: of the corruption within the U.S. Virgin Islands and J.P.
- 59:03Speaker 1: Morgan itself. And while they battle tooth and nail over
- 59:07Speaker 1: a settlement here, I think that overall they're doing more
- 59:10Speaker 1: harm to themselves than they could possibly imagine. And they're
- 59:13Speaker 1: opening the door to other people, namely the survivors, to
- 59:17Speaker 1: getting involved and filing suit as well. And my guess
- 59:21Speaker 1: is before the October trial date, there's going to be
- 59:25Speaker 1: plenty more twists, turns, and curves for us to navigate.
- 59:29Speaker 1: All right, folks, that's going to do it for this one.
- 59:31Speaker 1: All of the information that goes with the episode can
- 59:33Speaker 1: be found in the description box.