JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank AG won the dismissal of several claims filed against them over their ties to Jeffrey Epstein, though the lawsuits were allowed to proceed in narrower form.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff on Monday tossed the majority of the claims filed against the banks in proposed class actions filed by an Epstein victim identified only as Jane Doe. The Manhattan federal judge also threw out three of the four claims filed against JPMorgan in a separate suit by the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Rakoff allowed Doe to proceed with one of her key claims — that the banks knowingly benefited from Epstein's sex-trafficking scheme by providing him with financial services. But the judge dismissed the top counts in the suits accusing the banks of participating in Epstein's crimes.
Rakoff didn't provide the reasoning behind his four-page ruling, saying a fuller opinion would follow in due course. In the Deutsche Bank case, Rakoff dismissed eight counts but allowed four claims to proceed, including that the bank failed to exercise reasonable care to prevent physical harm. Rakoff threw out six of the 10 claims against JPMorgan.
In a joint statement on Monday, lawyers for Doe and the USVI called the decision allowing the case to move forward a victory.
"Epstein's sex trafficking operation was impossible without the assistance of JPMorgan Chase, and later Deutsche Bank, and we assure the public that we will leave no stone unturned in our quest for justice for the many victims who deserved better from one of America's largest financial institutions," said Brad Edwards, one of Doe's lawyers.
A spokeswoman for JPMorgan declined to comment. Lawyers for Deutsche Bank didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The judge's order clears the way for further discovery in the case. Mary Erdoes, JPMorgan's asset and wealth management chief executive officer, was deposed earlier this month and former executive Jes Staley is due to face a two-day deposition starting Thursday. JPMorgan has been fighting efforts to depose CEO Jamie Dimon.
Epstein was a client of JPMorgan between 1998 and 2013, and Doe alleges he used dozens of his accounts to pay off victims and transport them to his properties. After JPMorgan broke ties with Epstein, most of his business went to Deutsche Bank.
The financier was arrested for sex trafficking in 2019 but was found dead in his jail cell before he could go to trial.
Rakoff's ruling follows a hearing last week at which lawyers for JPMorgan argued that Doe hadn't met the legal standard to show the bank knew or participated in Epstein's sex trafficking.
JPMorgan has argued that it provided routine banking services to Epstein, while Doe argued that he was afforded special treatment because he brought in wealthy clients. Rakoff has allowed her claims that JPMorgan failed to exercise reasonable care in providing "non-routine banking" to proceed.
Staley has emerged as a central figure in the suits against JPMorgan. Salacious details about his relationship with Epstein during his time at the bank have emerged in various court filings. The pair exchanged more than 1,200 emails, some of which referred to young women, Disney princesses and visits to Epstein's private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
JPMorgan has argued that Staley, who went on to become CEO of Barclay Plc before resigning in 2021 over his Epstein ties, acted outside the scope of his employment and they should not be held liable. In a further attempt to distance itself from Staley's actions, the bank sued him on March 8, arguing he should be held liable for damages if any of Doe's or USVI's claims are proved true.
The cases are Jane Doe 1 v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, 22-cv-10019; Jane Doe 1 v. Deutsche Bank, 22-cv-10018, and USVI v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, 22-cv-10904-UA, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan)
