According to a report, Jes Staley, the former head of asset management at JPMorgan Chase, will reportedly be questioned under oath this weekend about his connections to the late billionaire and sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.
The deposition, which will not be made public, is being conducted as part of discovery in two separate civil claims against the biggest bank in the United States.
Manhattan U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff denied JPMorgan’s petitions to dismiss both complaints on May 1, saying the bank may be responsible if the plaintiffs prove Staley knew Epstein was a sex trafficker. JPMorgan claims it would have refused Epstein sooner if it had learned of his offenses.
Both complaints allege that JPMorgan ignored Epstein’s suspicious cash withdrawals and transfers.
The report shows Epstein was a JPMorgan customer from 1998 until 2013, even after pleading guilty to a Florida prostitution charge.
In response, JPMorgan has filed suit against Staley, claiming he hid his knowledge of Epstein’s trafficking and so must compensate the bank for any losses it sustains.
Staley is set to be questioned by lawyers for the women, the Virgin Islands, and JPMorgan.
Staley denied knowing that Epstein would urge minor females and women to engage in sexual activity in a court declaration in response to allegations made by New York-based JPMorgan. Staley said that because of its missteps, JPMorgan had dirty hands for dealing with Epstein.
There will be a trial for all lawsuits on October 23, 2023.
While facing trial for sex trafficking allegations, Epstein allegedly hung himself in his Manhattan prison cell in August 2019 at age 66.
Jean Luc Brunel, a convicted modeling agent and former partner of Jeffrey Epstein’s, hanged himself in a Paris jail in February 2022. The Paris prosecutor’s office verified that Brunel was discovered dead in his cell at La Sante Prison at about 1 a.m. local time.
Brunel was arrested in December 2020 and charged with sexual harassment and rape of juveniles above the age of 15 in France.
According to a report, attorneys for Jean Luc Brunel said he made the choice out of intense opposition to the injustice rather than any sense of guilt.
