Jamie Dimon, CEO, JP Morgan Chase, during Jim Cramer interview, Feb. 23, 2023.
CNBC
An attorney for the U.S. Virgin Islands argued in federal court that JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and ex-top bank executive Jes Staley were aware of sex trafficking by the bank’s notorious client Jeffrey Epstein.
The lawyer’s argument pushed back at JPMorgan’s move earlier this month to shift any legal responsibility for its business relationship with the late Epstein onto Staley alone.
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“Jamie Dimon knew in 2008 that his billionaire client was a sex trafficker,” attorney Mimi Liu told Manhattan U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff at a hearing late Thursday, referring to the year Epstein was first criminally charged with sex crimes.
“If Staley is a rogue employee, why isn’t Jamie Dimon?” Liu said at the hearing, which dealt with JPMorgan’s efforts to dismiss the Virgin Islands’ lawsuit against the bank over its relationship with Epstein.
The lawyer continued: “Staley knew, Dimon knew, JPMorgan Chase knew” about Epstein’s criminal conduct.
Liu said there were multiple cash transactions and wire transfers by Epstein, including sending hundreds of thousands of dollars to several women, which should have been officially flagged as suspicious.
“They broke every rule to facilitate his sex trafficking in exchange for Epstein’s wealth, connections and referrals,” Liu argued
“This case was not just Jes Staley … there will be numerous documents that go far beyond his office to the executive suite,” she said.
Jes Staley, chief executive officer of Barclays Plc, speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview on day three of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019.
Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A lawyer for JPMorgan disputed those arguments, “in particular the point about Jamie Dimon having any specific knowledge.”
Dimon is not a named defendant in the suit against the bank.
A spokeswoman for the bank declined to comment Friday to…
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