JPMorgan Chase Flagged Over $1 Billion in Suspicious Transactions Linked to Jeffrey Epstein in Newly Unsealed Records

Recently unsealed court documents have revealed that JPMorgan Chase flagged over $1 billion in suspicious transactions connected to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. US District Judge Jed Rakoff ordered the release of these records.

These documents, part of litigation between the US Virgin Islands and JPMorgan Chase, comprise hundreds of pages of emails, financial reports, and internal banking records. They indicate that JPMorgan had filed numerous suspicious activity reports (SARs) regarding Epstein as early as 2002, well before his initial conviction.

The records demonstrate that Epstein's financial network extended deeply into Wall Street. Among the notable individuals mentioned in the SARs is Leon Black, the billionaire co-founder of Apollo Global Management and a long-standing associate of Epstein.

The documents also include correspondence between Epstein and Jes Staley, who served as a senior executive at JPMorgan before becoming CEO of Barclays. Between 2008 and 2013, they exchanged hundreds of messages, with Epstein offering to connect Staley to influential figures such as Google's co-founders and various heads of state as potential clients. None of these individuals have been accused of wrongdoing.

Staley stepped down from Barclays in 2021 amid increased scrutiny of his relationship with Epstein. During court proceedings, Staley denied awareness of Epstein's abuse of minors but acknowledged having had a sexual relationship with one of Epstein's assistants.

One particularly significant disclosure is a SAR filed on September 26, 2019, shortly after Epstein's death in federal custody. This report detailed financial activities between October 2003 and July 2019 involving Epstein, his affiliated entities, prominent Wall Street figures, and international institutions, including accounts connected to Russian banks Alfa Bank and Sberbank.

In this filing, JPMorgan indicated that it flagged these activities due to "negative media" coverage about Epstein's alleged sex trafficking of minors, his utilization of multiple accounts, and his "relationships with two US presidents." The bank submitted this report to the US Treasury Department as part of its legal obligation to alert authorities about potentially illicit financial conduct.

JPMorgan formally terminated its relationship with Epstein in 2013, five years after he pleaded guilty to state prostitution charges in Florida and entered into a controversial non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors.

Patricia Wexler, a JPMorgan Chase spokesperson, stated to CNN: "The bank filed SARs about Epstein early on, and specifically when it exited Epstein from the bank in 2013 and repeatedly between 2013 and 2019, as required. It does not appear that anyone in the government or law enforcement acted on those SARs for years."

JPMorgan Chase has experienced significant repercussions from its past association with Epstein. In 2023, the bank agreed to pay $290 million to survivors of Epstein's abuse and an additional $75 million to settle claims with the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned a private island. The bank did not admit wrongdoing in either settlement.

The US Virgin Islands' lawsuit alleged that JPMorgan "facilitated and profited" from Epstein's sex trafficking operation by ignoring numerous warning signs in order to continue collecting substantial fees.

Recently, Britain's King Charles removed Prince Andrew's royal title due to his connections with Epstein.