NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters) – A former JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) government who befriended Jeffrey Epstein urged a U.S. choose to throw out the financial institution’s lawsuit in opposition to him, accusing JPMorgan of deflecting blame for its personal failures in working with the late intercourse offender.
In a Monday night time submitting in Manhattan federal courtroom, Jes Staley stated the biggest U.S. financial institution had no viable claims in opposition to him over its relationship with Epstein, a consumer from 1998 to 2013, and couldn’t plausibly allege he was solely at fault.
Staley stated there have been no allegations he supplied providers at JPMorgan that had been the “lifeblood” of Epstein’s sex-trafficking in younger ladies and ladies, or that he noticed suspicious exercise within the financier’s accounts.
“What is for certain is that the financial institution can not deal with Mr Staley as its public relations defend by asserting claims that lack any authorized (or factual) foundation,” Staley stated.
JPMorgan didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark after enterprise hours.
The New York-based financial institution desires Staley, who spent six years as Barclays Plc’s (BARC.L) chief government after leaving JPMorgan, to forfeit eight years of compensation, and canopy its losses in two lawsuits stemming from its work with Epstein.
One lawsuit was filed by ladies who accused the financier of sexual abuse. The opposite was filed by the U.S. Virgin Islands, the place Epstein owned a personal island. Each search cash damages.
JPMorgan has been accused of repeatedly transferring money to pay Epstein’s victims, ignoring many warnings from compliance and different workers to chop ties with him, and dealing with Epstein even after dropping him as a consumer.
The lawsuits in opposition to JPMorgan, and the financial institution’s lawsuit in opposition to Staley, are scheduled for an Oct. 23 trial earlier than U.S. District Decide Jed Rakoff in Manhattan.
STALEY DENIES SEXUAL ASSAULT
Staley led JPMorgan’s asset administration enterprise from 2001 to 2009, and its company and funding financial institution from 2009 to 2013.
In its third-party grievance, JPMorgan accused Staley of “intentional and outrageous conduct” for deceptive it about Epstein’s character and conduct.
In response to courtroom papers, Staley swapped sexually suggestive messages about younger ladies with Epstein.
JPMorgan additionally accused Staley of sexually assaulting the named plaintiff, a former ballet dancer referred to as Jane Doe 1, within the lawsuit by Epstein accusers.
Staley referred to as that accusation “baseless.” He has additionally expressed remorse for his relationship with Epstein.
JPMorgan has denied realizing about Epstein’s crimes.
In a separate submitting on Monday, JPMorgan denied the U.S. Virgin Islands’ primary accusations, largely a formality after Rakoff final month rejected the financial institution’s dismissal movement.
Epstein pleaded responsible in 2008 to a Florida state prostitution cost and registered as a intercourse offender.
He died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 in what New York Metropolis’s health worker referred to as a suicide, one month after being criminally charged with intercourse trafficking.
Staley resigned from Barclays in November 2021 amid a dispute with British monetary regulators over his ties to Epstein.
The instances within the U.S. District Courtroom, Southern District of New York are: Jane Doe 1 v JPMorgan Chase & Co, No. 22-10019; Authorities of the U.S. Virgin Islands v JPMorgan Chase Financial institution NA, No. 22-10904; and JPMorgan Chase Financial institution NA v Staley, in Nos. 22-10019 and 22-10904.
Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Modifying by Christopher Cushing
: .