JPMorgan Chase reaches $290 million settlement with Jeffrey Epstein victims

JPMorgan Chase has agreed to settle a lawsuit accusing the Wall Street giant of facilitating financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking enterprise.

The tentative settlement would resolve a suit that was filed in federal court last year by a woman identified as “Jane Doe 1,” who claimed the financial institution turned a “blind eye” toward Epstein’s conduct. The suit also alleged the bank didn’t comply with federal laws for years while providing services to him and benefiting from his business.

David Boies, one of the lead attorneys for the victims and chairman at Boies Schiller Flexner, told NBC News that the bank agreed to pay $290 million to settle the lawsuit.

"The parties in Jane Doe 1 v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. 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, which is subject to court approval," JPMorgan Chase and the victims' lawyers said in a joint statement.

“The parties believe this settlement is in the best interests of all parties, especially the survivors who were the victims of Epstein’s terrible abuse,” the bank and attorneys said.

The unnamed woman filed the lawsuit on behalf of a "large number" of Epstein victims. The judge overseeing the case ruled Monday morning that the case could move forward as a class-action lawsuit.

“Any association with him was a mistake and we regret it. We would never have continued to do business with him if we believed he was using our bank in any way to help commit heinous crimes,” JPMorgan Chase said in a separate statement.

Epstein was a JPMorgan Chase client for 15 years until the bank severed ties with him in 2013.

In 2008, Epstein was convicted of procuring a child for prostitution. He later died by suicide in 2019 at a Manhattan correctional center where he was being held on federal sex-trafficking charges.

“The settlements that have been reached are both life-changing and historic for the survivors," said Sigrid McCawley, the victims' attorney and managing partner at Boies Schiller Flexner. "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."

McCawley added, "The settlements signal that financial institutions have an important role to play in spotting and shutting down sex trafficking.”

The settlement comes a little over a week after the head of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, was deposed in the case. During his deposition, Dimon said he never met Epstein and never even heard of him until Epstein’s 2019 arrest.

JPMorgan Chase still faces a similar lawsuit filed in the U.S. Virgin Islands over its ties to Epstein. The convicted sex offender had a residence in the territory. The lawsuit is set to go to trial in October and seeks monetary damages.

JPMorgan Chase has denied liability.

Brad Edwards, another attorney for the victims, said that “the information and support the U.S. Virgin Islands and its legal team provided to the survivors was enormously valuable, and we recognize the importance of the government’s continued litigation against JPMorgan Chase to prevent future crimes.”

The spokesman for the Virgin Islands attorney general said they were “gratified to hear about the settlement,” adding the territory “will continue to proceed with its enforcement action to ensure full accountability for JPMorgan’s violations of law and prevent the bank from assisting and profiting from human trafficking in the future.”

The bank is also litigating its own case against its former JPMorgan Chase executive Jes Staley. The financial institution sued Staley in March, saying he should be held liable for any financial penalties it faces from the lawsuits accusing the bank of enabling Epstein’s conduct.