An internal investigation by JPMorgan Chase, undertaken in 2019, after Jeffrey Epstein was arrested, reveals the disturbing reach of his influence peddling and helps explain why the bank ‘ignored the evidence of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and traded victims’ public safety for its own profits’, as per the US Virgin Island’s new judicial filing.
The 22-page report, included in the lawsuit in Federal Court against JPMorgan, reveals multiple instances of the convicted pedophile acting to steer business the bank’s way, even arranging for meetings between a top bank executive (and personal friend) Jes Staley, and members of the UK government at that time, such as chancellor Alistair Darling, and business secretary Peter Mandelson.
Financial Times reported:
“In January 2010, just months after he was released from jail having served a sentence for sex crimes, Epstein wrote to Staley: ‘I’ve set up you and peter to meet in davos with darling’, a reference to the World Economic Forum that was taking place in Switzerland.
A few days later, Staley wrote to Epstein that he saw ‘Peter last night. Darling in 20 minutes. Will talk again with Peter this AM’.”
Those meeting had a very practical objective: JPMorgan Chase had interest in the non-North American units of Sempra Commodities by Royal Bank of Scotland. Sure enough, only months later, the bank bought the business for $1.7bn.
There we can see why the firm would be willing to put up with potential reputational damage of having Epstein as a client: he brought big, valuable businesses to the bank.
In 2010, Epstein advanced a business opportunity connected to currently embattled Prince Andrew, of a company “looking for a $200mn working capital line”.
“In 2009, according to the report, Epstein emailed Staley: “Ask Andrew about [the] island, tell him about your boat plans”, an apparent reference to Little St James, Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean.
[…] ‘Jeffrey Epstein connected JPMorgan Chase’s executives with some of the world’s most high-profile and wealthy individuals’, said a spokesperson for the USVI attorney-general.”
The bank investigation also showed how close Jes Staley was to Epstein. Epstein was even trying to help Staley’s daughter entering Columbia University, in New York.
The New York Times reported:
“James E. Staley, the former top JPMorgan Chase executive who was closest to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein at the bank, relied on him for many years as almost something of a personal adviser, a document shows.
The two men discussed a wide variety of topics in emails, including a potential meeting between Chinese officials and executives of the nation’s largest bank, business deals that Mr. Staley was working on, a potential promotion for Mr. Staley and the fallout from the 2008 financial crisis, according to a document the bank prepared shortly after Mr. Epstein’s arrest in 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges.
The document, reviewed by The New York Times and included as a sealed exhibit in a court filing, also revealed the personal nature of Mr. Staley’s relationship with Mr. Epstein. A number of times, Mr. Staley told Mr. Epstein he missed him, talked about mutual friends and about helping his daughter get into graduate school.”
While the civil suit by the US Virgin Island government is still ongoing, a few days ago the bank reached a tentative $290 million settlement to resolve a similar lawsuit brought on behalf of more than 100 victims of Mr. Epstein.
While Epstein’s power and reach were very real, he seemed not to be averse to exaggerating it.
Daily Mail Reported:
“Epstein told an acquaintance that he had just had lunch with Musk and Boris Nikolic, the former scientific advisor to Bill Gates who the financier [Epstein] named as an executor of his will.”
The meeting would have taken place at a TED conference in Long Beach, California.
Known as a ‘prolific name dropper’, Epstein would constantly talk about his friendship with the likes of Ehud Barak and Prince Andrew.
US Virgin Islands subpoenaed Musk for ‘all Documents reflecting or regarding Communications […] regarding Epstein or Epstein’s role with respect to Your accounts, transactions, or financial management’.
The documents reveal a dinner in Palo Alto, California, hosted by LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, with MIT neuroscientist Ed Boyden and Epstein, where Musk has been said to have introduced the convicted pedophile to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
“Musk said: ‘I don’t recall introducing Epstein to anyone, as I don’t know the guy well enough to do so, Epstein is obviously a creep and Zuckerberg is not a friend of mine.
‘Several years ago, I was at his house in Manhattan for about 30 minutes in the middle of the afternoon with Talulah (Riley, his ex-girlfriend) as she was curious about meeting this strange person for a novel she was writing. We did not see anything inappropriate at all, apart from weird art. He tried repeatedly to get me to visit his island. I declined’.”
When first received notice of his being subpoenaed, Musk took to his Twitter to put matters into perspective: