Jes Staley, former CEO, Barclays.
Justin Solomon | CNBC
A federal judge Wednesday denied a bid by former JPMorgan Chase executive Jes Staley to dismiss a complaint by the bank that seeks to hold him legally liable for sex trafficking by former JPMorgan customer Jeffrey Epstein.
The ruling in U.S. District Court in Manhattan came two days before JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is scheduled to be deposed in lawsuits by the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands and an Epstein accuser against the bank over its relationship with the late predator.
The Virgin Islands alleges in its suit filed in December that JPMorgan facilitated and financially benefited from the trafficking of young women by Epstein to his private island in the American territory to be sexually abused by him and others there.
Epstein was a client of the bank from 1998 until 2013.
In March, as part of its legal response to the Virgin Islands’ lawsuit and the similar one by the Jane Doe accuser, JPMorgan filed a so-called third-party complaint against Staley.
That action argues if the Virgin Islands proves its allegations, “Staley is solely liable to the USVI, or liable to JPMC for all sums awarded to the USVI and against JPMC, if any, at trial.” The suit also seeks to claw back more than $80 million in compensation Staley received from the bank, where he worked for three decades.
Staley, who had been a main point of contact at the bank for Epstein, last month asked Judge Jed Rakoff to toss out the complaint against him by JPMorgan.
Rakoff in a brief order denied Staley’s motion in full.
“An opinion explaining the reasoning behind this ruling will follow in due course,” the judge wrote.
Staley’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Staley has denied knowing about Epstein’s sex trafficking.
He served as CEO of Barclays from 2015 until late 2021, when he quit after British financial regulators investigated his ties to Epstein.
Epstein died from suicide in a Manhattan jail in August 2019, weeks after being arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges.
