JP Morgan execs face new allegations from U.S. Virgin Islands in $190 million Jeffrey Epstein lawsuit

The government of the U.S. Virgin Islands unveiled fresh allegations against JP Morgan Chase this week over its ties to the disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein. It's part of a massive lawsuit that accuses the bank of helping conceal his sex crimes and seeks at least $190 million. A lengthy series of new court filings detail the bank's alleged dealings with Epstein while he was a client between 1998 and 2013.

The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court last December, alleges JP Morgan benefitted from Epstein's illegal sex trafficking enterprise and suggests the banking giant "turned a blind eye" to the exploitation of women and girls over many years at his property on Little St. James island. It levies a range of accusations against JP Morgan, including that the bank continued to provide services to Epstein after he became a registered sex offender in the U.S. Virgin Islands, following a 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution, and failed to comply with federal records and reporting regulations in a deliberate effort to protect Epstein, and his illegal activities, from scrutiny.

In redacted court documents filed Monday night, the U.S. Virgin Islands request a partial summary judgement — asking the judge to rule on some allegations brought in the suit against JP Morgan Chase — ahead of an upcoming trial date scheduled for October. The allegations mentioned in that request involve JP Morgan's alleged "participation in Epstein's sex-trafficking venture" and "obstruction of enforcement of the law in violation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act," which prohibits "sex trafficking of children or of others by force, fraud, or coercion."