Ope, nothing to see here, folks, just the largest bank in the U.S. settling a lawsuit with the Virgin Islands which alleged the bank enabled, if not aided, their client Jeffrey Epstein's pedophile sex operation in the U.S. territory.
Yeah, no need to go any further with this lawsuit, I guess in these situations banks just throw a bunch of money at the problem and it goes away. Good to know.
$75 million seems to be the sweet spot, too.
JP Morgan also agreed to pay $290 million to anonymous victims of Epstein in June (funny how we keep hearing about victims but none of the elite-class perps on the client list!)
I'll keep this in mind if I ever get super rich and strive to create a pedophile sex-trafficking ring. It's apparently the thing to do in elite circles.
The settlement comes just one month before JPMorgan and the USVI were set to go to trial in Manhattan.
"As part of the settlement, JPMorgan has agreed to implement and maintain meaningful anti-trafficking measures, which will help prevent human trafficking in the future," USVI Attorney General Ariel M. Smith said in a press release.
JPMorgan didn't admit to any wrongdoing as part of the agreement, which will see $30 million contributed to USVI-based charitable organizations and $25 million paid to enhance the USVI's infrastructure and law enforcement.
JPMorgan will dish out an additional $20 million to cover attorneys' fees…
The Virgin Islands was initially seeking at least $190 million to settle the suit, including $150 million in civil fines and at least $40 million in penalties — more than twice Tuesday's result.
Would ya look at that! No wrongdoing. Man, and here I thought we were going to learn something more about Epstein. Why did I think that would actually happen?
But look, JP Morgan really is sad about their unfortunate relationship with Mr. Epstein, and they're really really sorry, too.
"The firm deeply regrets any association with this man, and would never have continued doing business with him if it believed he was using the bank in any way to commit his heinous crimes," JPMorgan said in a statement.
Patricia Wexler, a spokesperson for the bank, said the settlement "recognizes that JPMorgan remains committed to previous and ongoing efforts to fight human trafficking through its anti-money laundering (AML) program, and lists a number of processes we previously committed to."
"There are no new commitments," Wexler noted. "Our controls, compliance, risk and other functions are always improving, and we are continually investing to become even better."
They're not going to take this slap on the wrist lightly, y'all. They've learned their lesson, for sure.
A little background on this settlement:
Leading up to the Oct. 23 trial, the USVI claimed that JPMorgan maintained a relationship with Epstein through his initial bout in prison and during his sex-trafficking probe because he brought a slew of deep-pocketed clients to JPMorgan.
One of those wealthy individuals was Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who became one of the bank's biggest clients with investments worth more than $4 billion…
Other members of Epstein's high-net-worth network he allegedly recruited to the bank: Bill Gates, the sultan of Dubai, Prince Andrew, Hyatt hotel heir Thomas Pritzker, billionaire hedge fund founder Glenn Dubin "and many other ultra-wealthy clients."
Now, let me ask you this: If this was your bank, and a client was bringing you this many high-income referrals, would you out him?
Doesn't matter anymore; the settlement is in, and this will be old news by Friday.
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
