JPMorgan and its top executives, including Chief Executive Jamie Dimon, risked the bank by dealing with Jeffrey Epstein and failing to report suspicious activity in his accounts, an investor said in a lawsuit. reputational risk, the lawsuit seeks to compel the bank to improve its compliance program.
Operating Engineers Construction Industry and Miscellaneous Pension Fund is also seeking a judge’s ruling that the bank’s managers violated their duty to report Epstein’s conduct and pay his legal fees.
“JPMorgan has suffered and will continue to suffer significant monetary and reputational damage as a result of its long history of assisting some of the worst sex traffickers in modern history,” the fund said in a complaint filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court.
The New York-based bank had a 15-year relationship with Epstein, from 1998 to 2013, during which time he withdrew large amounts of cash to support his sex trafficking operations, the indictment said. The fund said JPMorgan failed to file suspicious activity reports and comply with similar anti-money laundering rules during that period.
JPMorgan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“JPMorgan faces substantial legal risk for its role in helping to conceal Epstein’s crimes,” the fund said, citing two cases JPMorgan is defending in which an Epstein victim and a U.S. The Virgin Islands is separately seeking monetary damages for Epstein’s abuse in relation to claims facilitated by the bank.
JPMorgan also faces the risk of paying fines in the event of a possible government investigation, the fund said in the complaint.
