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JPMorgan executives rejected internal human trafficking experts' request to cut ties with 'that Epstein scum'

Jeffrey Epstein died in prison in 2019.Associated Press

  • JPMorgan human trafficking experts urged bank to cut ties with Jeffrey Epstein: court documents.

  • They feared that banking with “sleazy kids” would undermine anti-trafficking efforts.

  • But bank executives rejected the initiative request, according to a new court filing.

JPMorgan Chase's internal human trafficking experts urged the company to cut ties with “that scumbag Epstein” — but the bank's executives rejected their request, according to a new court filing.

The bank's experts charged with combating human trafficking globally expressed concern in 2010 about their continued collaboration with Jeffrey Epstein, a known sex offender. They cited information linking Jeffrey Epstein to human trafficking, according to the court document filed Monday in Manhattan court.

A member of the AML compliance body wrote, according to the filing: “I sent you an email yesterday about this Epstein trash,” adding: “My fear is that all our boasting of goodwill on THE [Human Trafficking] work, if anyone were to ever say that we bank Epstein, a known sleazy child. “

The compliance also requested that the bank “respond to this customer in light of new allegations of human trafficking that the firm actively assisted law enforcement in uncovering.” others engaged in this practice,” the filing states.

The head of JPMorgan's anti-human trafficking initiative also believed the company “should exit Jeffrey Epstein as a client,” according to the filing.

Yet the bank's commercial division decided to retain Epstein, despite compliance concerns, according to the filing.

The broad lawsuit behind Monday's complaints — first filed in December by the U.S. Virgin Islands — accuses JPMorgan of knowing for more than a decade that Epstein was involved in trafficking underage girls for sex , but still kept him as a client.

“Any association with Epstein was wrong and, in hindsight, we regret it, but we did not help him commit his heinous crimes,” a representative for JPMorgan Chase told Insider in a statement. “We would never have continued doing business with him if we believed he was involved in an ongoing sex trafficking operation.”

Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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