JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is being asked to provide more information about recent reports that the company ignored convicted offender Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking background.
Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) sent a letter to Dimon on Wednesday raising her concerns about recent reports and court filings that have described JPMorgan Chase’s “ties to indicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.” She said that the allegations included accusing the bank of ignoring “obvious signs of Epstein’s illegal activity” and keeping a relationship with him.
“If true, JPMorgan’s decision to turn a blind eye to such egregious misconduct raises serious questions about its role in facilitating Epstein’s abuse, and its willingness or ability to root out and prevent other, less apparent instances of sex trafficking,” she wrote.
Smith asked for more information about the recent reports “to better understand how this slipped past the bank’s internal controls and whether it can be trusted to identify and prevent future criminality in the future.” She also requested details about the bank’s policies to prevent sex trafficking and if Dimon believed those polices “worked effectively” in regard to Epstein.
“JPMorgan’s apparent failure to act on these signs demonstrates a flagrant disregard for the law and a callous pursuit of profits over the human cost of Epstein’s heinous crimes,” she continued in her letter. “While JPMorgan has denied knowledge of Epstein’s illegal conduct, I trust that the truth will come to light as the legal process plays out.”
The U.S. Virgin Islands sued JPMorgan Chase, accusing the corporation of turning a “blind eye” to Epstein’s conduct. A recent court filing by the Virgin Islands’ attorney general also accused the bank executives of knowing about the sex abuse and trafficking Epstein orchestrated years before it severed ties with him, according to CNN Business.
The Wall Street Journal reported that although JPMorgan had shut down Epstein’s bank accounts in 2013, bankers of the company continued to meet with years after, according to people familiar with the matter.
“In hindsight, any association with Epstein was a mistake and we regret it, but we do not believe we violated any laws,” a spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase said in a statement to The Hill. “We are committed to combatting human trafficking and we will continue to look for ways to invest in advancing this important mission.”
Epstein died by suicide in his Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while he was awaiting a trial on allegations that he trafficked dozens of minors for sex.