Jeffrey Epstein victims sue JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank for ‘facilitating his sex-trafficking operation and ignoring red flags’: Women claim large cash sums were withdrawn to pay them for sex
- Separate lawsuits filed against both banks in New York on Thursday allege they facilitated Epstein’s sexual abuse and put ‘profits over following the law’
- The women in the cases say they were abused by Epstein across periods of several years and paid with money from accounts Epstein held with the banks
- Lawsuits allege banks ignored ‘red flags’ and turned a blind eye to his abuse
- Lawyer in the cases says ‘time has come for real enablers to be held responsible’
Victims of Jeffrey Epstein are suing Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase, alleging they ‘played an integral role’ in the pedophile financier’s campaign of sexual abuse.
In two lawsuits filed in New York on Thursday, the women say the banks facilitated Epstein’s sex trafficking operation because large sums of money were withdrawn to pay his victims.
They are also accused of ignoring ‘red flags’ and putting profit before the law.
Bradley Edwards, a lawyer in the case against Deutsche Bank, told the Wall Street Journal: ‘The time has come for the real enablers to be held responsible, especially his wealthy friends and the financial institutions that played an integral role.
‘These victims were wronged, by many, not just Epstein. He did not act alone.’
Epstein took his own life in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
Both lawsuits are class action cases that name the plaintiffs as ‘Jane Doe 1, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated’.
Jeffrey Epstein is pictured outside his New York mansion in 2019. The suits say much of his sex abuse took place in the mansion.
JP Morgan Chase is accused of acting ‘in a negligent manner so as to enable Epstein to commit such offenses against countless young women’
The suit against Deutsche Bank says: ‘Knowing that they would earn millions of dollars from facilitating Epstein’s sex trafficking, and from its relationship with Epstein, Deutsche Bank chose profit over following the law.’
The unnamed woman in the case against Deutsche Bank says she was trafficked and sexually abused by Epstein between around 2003 and 2018.
She claims she was paid in cash for sex acts. The suit also alleges that Deutsche Bank ignored ‘red flags’.
The filing, seen by DailyMail.com, says: ‘Deutsche Bank also knew that Epstein would use means of force, threats of force, fraud, abuse of legal process, exploitation of power disparity, and a variety of other forms of coercion to cause young women and girls to engage in commercial sex acts.
‘Deutsche Bank also engaged in repeated acts of racketeering activity to support the Epstein organization. Knowing that they would earn millions of dollars from facilitating Epstein’s sex trafficking, and from its relationship with Epstein, Deutsche Bank chose profit over following the law.
‘Specifically, Deutsche Bank chose facilitating a sex trafficking operation in order to churn profits.’
The suit also notes several damning findings by New York regulators about Deutsche Bank’s business with Epstein.
The bank was fined $150 million by state regulators in 2020 for failings which included not intervening as Epstein paid women’s tuition and gave suspicious payments to Russian models and women with Eastern European names. The bank had a responsibility to monitor his accounts because he was a registered sex offender.
The suits lodged on Thursday claim Epstein’s victims were paid using case from large withdrawals from JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank. The banks are accused of facilitating the pedophile financier’s abuse.
Jeffrey Epstein’s Upper East Side mansion, which is one of the largest private homes in Manhattan. The lawsuits say it’s where much of the abuse carried out by Epstein took place
In the case against JPMorgan Chase, the unnamed woman is a former ballet dancer who says she was abused by Epstein between 2006 and 2013.
She says she was recruited by another female and also trafficked to Epstein’s friends. It’s claimed she was paid with cash obtained through large withdrawals from JPMorgan Chase accounts.
The suit against the bank alleges that ‘JP Morgan knowingly and intentionally benefited and received things of value for assisting, supporting, facilitating, and otherwise providing the most critical service for the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking organization’.
It says the bank ‘knew’ Epstein was committing sex offenses and ‘acted in a negligent manner so as to enable Epstein to commit such offenses against countless young women’.
‘JP Morgan chose profits over following the law,’ the suit adds.
A Deutsche Bank spokesman said: ‘We believe this claim lacks merit and will present our arguments in court.’
JPMorgan Chase declined to comment.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk