JPMorgan agrees to $290 million settlement with Jeffrey Epstein victims in lawsuit

To settle a lawsuit by the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay about $290 million, an official privy to the matter said on Monday, resolving a large part of litigation over the bank's relationship with the disgraced financier.

In a joint statement released on Monday, the leading American financial institution announced its intention to reach a preliminary settlement in the class action lawsuit.

While JPMorgan did not admit to any wrongdoing in the case, but it did say that any association with Jeffrey Epstein was a mistake. The lawsuit has mentioned that Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse of girls and women was flagged to JPMorgan but it “ignored” the warnings.

‘WOULDN'T HAVE CONTINUED TO DO BUSINESS WITH HIM’

In a statement, JPMorgan said, “Any association with him (Epstein) 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.”

Apart from the victims, JPMorgan is also facing a lawsuit by the government of the US Virgin Islands where Jeffrey Epstein owned two. Jeffrey Epstein is accused of abusing his victims in his mansions.

Jeffrey Epstein was JPMorgan's client from 1998 until 2013 when he was dropped, seven years after his arrest on prostitution charges.

JPMorgan also took legal action against its former executive Jes Staley who has been accused of hiding what he knew about Jeffrey Epstein. In his defence, Jes Staley has said that he regrets befriending Jeffrey Epstein but has denied knowing about the racket.

Deutsche Bank, where Epstein was a client from 2013 to 2018, last month agreed to pay $75 million to settle a similar lawsuit by women who said they were trafficked by Epstein.

"The settlements signal that financial institutions have an important role to play in spotting and shutting down sex trafficking," Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer for the woman known as Jane Doe 1 who sued JPMorgan, said in a statement.

(With Reuters inputs)