Jeffrey Epstein and his Virgin Islands home (Photos via DOJ)
Jeffrey Epstein survivors and the Virgin Island government can pursue claims that JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank knowingly benefited from participating in a sex trafficking venture.
Senior U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, a sharp critic of Wall Street malfeasance, did not lay out his reasoning in a threadbare 4-page order. He indicated that he will release a fuller opinion “in due course.”
The ruling advances elements of all three pending Epstein-related lawsuits against JPMorgan and Deutsche. Epstein victims anonymized as Jane Doe filed separate lawsuits against each bank, and the Virgin Islands separately sued JPMorgan only. The mixed ruling gives the green light only to certain claims while dismissing others.
A surviving count in all three of the lawsuits accuses the institutions of knowingly benefiting from Epstein’s sex trafficking venture.
The ruling follows bombshell oral arguments last week, where an attorney for the Virgin Islands accused JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon of knowing Epstein was a sex trafficker as far back as 2008.
That was the year Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor.
Read the ruling here.
This is a developing story.
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