 settlement with the US Virgin Islands will include $30m to support local charities, $25m to strengthen law enforcement around human trafficking and $20m for legal fees. It totals less than half of the $190m the territory had sought. JP Morgan said it believed the settlement was "in the best interest of all parties". The latest move attempts to draw a line under a legal battle that has seen the bank and the island territory's ties to the late Epstein scrutinised over the last year. A trial in the case with the US Virgin Islands had been set to begin on 23 October. Jeffrey Epstein was a JP Morgan client from 1998 to 2013. He owned two private islands where girls were "lured and recruited" to his Caribbean home and allegedly forced into sex, according to a previous lawsuit filed . The bank added in its statement: "The firm deeply regrets any association with this man, and would never have continued doing business with him if it believed he was using the bank in any way to commit his heinous crimes." Public court filings in the cases accused the bank of ignoring "red flags" about Epstein, including repeated cash withdrawals. Epstein died in prison in August 2019, where he was awaiting trial having been charged by federal prosecutors with sex traf){kind=link}
JP Morgan Chase has reached settlements with the US Virgin Islands and former executive Jes Staley to resolve lawsuits over its alleged dealings with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
It will pay $75m to the territory, which alleged the bank facilitated Epstein’s sex trafficking ring.
JPMorgan did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement.
Lawyers for Mr Staley, a former boss at the bank, did not immediately respond to the BBC’s request for comment.
The Wall Street giant, which previously reached a $290m settlement with Epstein’s victims, said it settled with Mr Staley for an undisclosed sum in a confidential agreement.