JPMorgan is throwing its former chief executive Jes Staley under the bus as the bank faces legal battles over its relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, a new court filing reveals.
In November, a victim known as Jane Doe filed a class-action lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase (JPMC) which alleged the bank profited off Epstein’s sex ring and argued that “Staley was the key to making all of Epstein’s depraved dreams of sexual abuse and sex trafficking of countless young women possible.” (The government of the U.S. Virgin Islands filed a similar suit against JPMorgan a month later, claiming it “turned a blind eye” to Epstein’s activities. Staley was not named as a defendant in either complaint.)
Now, JPMorgan has filed a third-party complaint against Staley, arguing that the 66-year-old disgraced banking honcho should be “solely liable” if Doe wins her case.
JPMorgan even goes as far as suggesting Staley abused Doe.
“Doe alleges that ‘one of Epstein’s friends used aggressive force in his sexual assault of her and informed Jane Doe 1 that he had Epstein’s permission to do what he wanted to her,’” the complaint says.
“Upon information and belief, Staley is this person, who she described as a ‘powerful financial executive’ she had historically been afraid to identify.”
While JPMorgan says it “does not admit” to the accusations, the bank argues that if it’s found “responsible for any damages to Doe, JPMC also brings independent claims against Staley for breach of fiduciary duty and violation of the faithless servant doctrine.”
According to JPMorgan, Staley “breached his fiduciary duty by engaging in inappropriate conduct in his personal dealings with Epstein outside the scope of his employment that was harmful to JPMC’s reputation and that posed a conflict of interest.”
The bank seeks punitive damages against Staley, attorneys’ fees associated with the litigation, and to recover “all compensation paid to Staley during the time period of his disloyalty, from at least 2006 through 2013,” the filing reveals.
“Even upon his departure from JPMC, and in spite of his explicit affirmation that he had reported to JPMC any violations of the Code of Conduct, Staley did not disclose to JPMC the information about his personal activities” related to Epstein, the complaint states.
“Instead, Staley repeatedly abandoned the interests of JPMC in pursuit of his own personal interests and benefits and those of Epstein,” the filing continues.
Staley’s cozy ties to Epstein were underscored in a recent filing from the U.S. Virgin Islands attorney general which quoted creepy emails between the men, who exchanged suggestive photos of women and cryptic references to Disney Princesses. In 2010, Staley allegedly wrote to Epstein, “Say hi to Snow White.” Epstein then asked which “character” Staley would like next, to which the banker replied, “Beauty and the Beast.”
Doe, who says she was trafficked by Epstein from 2006 to 2013, claims in her own amended complaint that Staley “was a regular visitor of Epstein’s” and “personally observed” her “as a sexual trafficking and abuse victim.”
Her filing adds: “The relationship between Epstein and Staley was symbiotic and special. Epstein agreed to bring many ultra-high wealth clients to JP Morgan, and in exchange, Staley would use his clout within JP Morgan to make Epstein untouchable.”
According to Doe, Staley visited Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse, private isle in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Florida mansion, including when Epstein was serving his jail sentence in Palm Beach for soliciting minors around 2009.
“Staley met many of Epstein’s trafficking victims, including Jane Doe 1,” the Doe lawsuit states, adding that the banking executive also visited a New York apartment building where Epstein housed young women. “Staley personally observed the sexual abuse of young women, including Jane Doe 1,” the filing adds. “These actions were within the scope of Staley’s employment at JP Morgan.”
The U.S. Virgin Islands’ first amended complaint contained even more damaging accusations against Staley, alleging he “developed a close relationship with Epstein when Staley was the head of JP Morgan’s Private Bank” and exchanged approximately 1,200 emails with Epstein between 2008 and 2012 from his JPMorgan email account.
Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan home.
Eduardo Munoz via Reuters
“These communications show a close personal relationship and ‘profound’ friendship between the two men and even suggest that Staley may have been involved in Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation,” the amended complaint alleges.
JPMorgan’s action against Staley is the latest fallout from his friendship with Epstein.
When Epstein killed himself in a federal lockup in 2019, Staley was CEO of U.K. bank Barclays. In November 2021, the banker resigned after financial regulators probed his characterization of his relationship with Epstein. Staley has denied any wrongdoing.
In 2020, Staley told the press that he had a “professional relationship” with Epstein since 2000 and that the perverted financier was a client of JPMorgan before he was hired.
“The relationship was maintained during my time at JP Morgan but as I left JP Morgan the relationship tapered off quite significantly,” Staley said. “Obviously I thought I knew him well and I didn’t. For sure, with hindsight with what we know now, I deeply regret having any relationship with Jeffrey.”
