Titans of American Industry Subpoenaed in Lawsuit Against Sex-Trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s Bankers

A number of well-known American business leaders and billionaires have reportedly been asked to turn over information they may have about the late Jeffrey Epstein as part of a lawsuit filed by the government of the U.S. Virgin Island against the Wall Street banks that backed the convicted sex trafficker.Google co-founder Sergey Brin, real estate investor Mortimer Zuckerman, Hollywood icon Michael Ovitz, and the executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels, Thomas Pritzger, were all subpoenaed by the U.S. territory’s attorney general, according to the Wall Street Journal. Last week, it was reported that Wall Street titan Jaime Dimon will be asked to testify in the case.The government of the Virgin Islands is suing J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., alleging that the Wall Street behemoth could have prevented the abuse suffered by several women who accused Epstein of transporting them against their will to his 75-acre private island in the Virgin Islands archipelago where they were sexually abused.The bank “chose to look the other way on these legal matters while continuing to use their banking relationship to grow their business with new clients introduced by Epstein,” the government of the islands said in a press release.A federal judge in New York City hearing the case ruled last month that the lawsuit by the Virgin Islands against the bank, as well as others by some of the women involved in the case, can proceed. The judge also ruled that a similar case against Deutsche Bank can proceed as well.Precisely why the bold-faced names were subpoenaed remains unclear, but lawyers in civil cases are allowed to rope in people who are not named in lawsuits if they are believed to have evidence in a case.J.P. Morgan has said it was unaware of Epstein’s activities and should not be held liable. The bank has sued the former CEO of its investment banking division, Jes Staley, for his relationship with Epstein. Mr. Staley, later the CEO of Barclays bank in London, was forced to resign that position in 2021 by U.K. banking regulators over his relationship with Epstein. The bank ended its relationship with Epstein in 2013.Lawyers for the Virgin Islands have alleged in court that Mr. Dimon and others at the bank — including Mr. Staley — were aware as far back as 2008 that Epstein was sex trafficking. Epstein was first charged with such offenses by the state of Florida that year.Epstein, who regularly hobnobbed with such luminaries as President Trump, President Clinton, and Britain’s Prince Andrew, was a darling of the Manhattan social set for years before he was arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges in July 2019. He killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell not long after being denied bail. An associate of his, Ghislaine Maxwell, was sentenced last year to 20 years in prison on similar charges.The Virgin Islands sued Epstein’s estate in 2020 in an attempt to recover some $80 million in tax breaks given to his Southern Trust Company that he used to help develop his estate on the Little Saint James Island where he lived part of the year. The lawsuit said dozens of young women were lured to the island, sexually assaulted and held against their will there. The case was settled in December, with the estate agreeing to pay $105 million plus half the proceeds of the sale of the island to the government there.

Titans of American Industry Subpoenaed in Lawsuit Against Sex-Trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s Bankers

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