11 months ago
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A New York national justice warned JPMorgan Chase that helium mightiness find the slope successful contempt of tribunal if it does not velocity up successful producing grounds related to precocious intersexual offender and wealth manager Jeffrey Epstein for lawsuits by an Epstein accuser and the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands, CNBC has learned.
Judge Jed Rakoff suggested successful a announcement that JPMorgan and 2 law firms representing the slope person been slow-walking successful turning implicit documents and different grounds to plaintiffs successful the case, nether a process known arsenic discovery, according to a root acquainted with the notice.
The announcement comes 2 weeks earlier JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is scheduled to beryllium questioned nether oath by plaintiffs' lawyers for the civilian suits, which impeach his slope of enabling and benefiting from Epstein's alleged enactment trafficking of young women.
"The Court besides wishes to enactment that it is acrophobic that JPMorgan is not moving much expeditiously to nutrient responsive documents," Rakoff wrote successful the notice, which has yet to look connected the nationalist docket successful the lawsuit successful U.S. District Court successful Manhattan.
"While the Court appreciates the ample measurement of find that is to beryllium completed successful this case, a institution arsenic ample arsenic JPMorgan and counsel arsenic experienced arsenic WilmerHale and Massey & Gail should beryllium capable to determination with greater velocity than what was revealed by this incident," the justice wrote, referring to the bank's 2 instrumentality firms.
"So JPMorgan is enactment connected announcement that further expedition volition beryllium needed connected symptom of being enactment successful contempt of Court," Rakoff wrote.
A JPMorgan spokesperson had nary remark connected the notice.
Jeffrey Epstein attends Launch of RADAR MAGAZINE astatine Hotel QT connected May 18, 2005.
Patrick McMullan | Getty Images
Epstein, who died from a jailhouse termination successful 2019 soon aft being arrested connected national kid enactment trafficking charges, was a long-time lawsuit of the slope until 2013.
The lawsuits allege the slope allowed Epstein to stay a lawsuit contempt grounds helium was utilizing millions of dollars helium kept connected deposit to facilitate his trafficking of girls and young women to his backstage land successful the Virgin Islands and elsewhere.
Five years earlier JPMorgan ended its lawsuit narration with Epstein, helium pleaded blameworthy successful Florida authorities tribunal to soliciting enactment for wealth from an underage miss and served 13 months successful jail.
Before his conviction, Epstein was friends with erstwhile presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, arsenic good arsenic Prince Andrew of Britain.
JPMorgan denies immoderate wrongdoing, and successful its ain civil complaint the institution has said erstwhile slope enforcement Jes Staley would beryllium legally liable for immoderate liability arising from its narration with Epstein.
Staley spent 3 decades astatine JPMorgan and had adjacent interaction with Epstein — whom helium considered a person — implicit the years erstwhile Epstein was a customer.
Rakoff, successful a tribunal ruling published successful aboriginal May, noted that "plaintiffs allege that Mr. Staley had first-hand cognition of Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking operation."
"Mr. Staley is alleged to person visited Epstein's residences respective times portion that cognition was ongoing, and, during these visits, observed [the Epstein accuser suing JPMorgan] 'as a intersexual trafficking and maltreatment victim,'" Rakoff noted.
"Plaintiffs further allege that Mr. Staley himself abused immoderate of Epstein's victims, including" the pistillate suing the bank, the justice wrote. That pistillate claims that "'one of Epstein's friends' — whom she aboriginal identified arsenic Mr. Staley — 'used assertive unit successful his intersexual battle of her and informed [her] that helium had Epstein's support to bash what helium wanted to her.'"
In his ain tribunal filing, Staley called the accusations against him "baseless," and helium has denied cognition of Epstein's enactment trafficking.
Staley stepped down arsenic CEO of British banking elephantine Barclays successful precocious 2021 aft an enquiry by a United Kingdom regulator into however helium had characterized his narration with Epstein to Barclays.
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