Former Barclays and JP Morgan exec Jes Staley is accused of being an operative in late billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s sex ring, after thousands of emails between the two reveal a ‘profound friendship,’ a lawsuit claims.
The filing was made in an an amended complaint Tuesday by the US Virgin Islands, which had previously sued JPMorgan over the bank’s ties to Epstein. Staley worked at JPMorgan until 2013.
‘Between 2008 and 2012, Staley exchanged approximately 1,200 emails with Epstein from his JP Morgan email account,’ the amendment alleges. During that time, the bank ‘serviced approximately 55 Epstein-related accounts collectively worth hundreds of millions of dollars.’
Staley, 66, had quit Barclays in November 2021 after the bank’s board said it was ‘disappointed’ with the outcome of a report into his links to convicted sex offender Epstein.
‘These communications show a close personal relationship and ‘profound’ friendship between the two men and even suggest that Staley may have been involved in Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation,’ the amendment continues. ‘
They also reveal that Staley corresponded with Epstein while Epstein was incarcerated and visited Epstein’s Virgin Islands residence on multiple occasions,’ according to The Daily Beast.
The US Virgin Islands’ suit also claims that Staley was allowed ‘to remain a decision-maker on Epstein’s accounts’ and even asked to discuss the historical, sordid sex trafficking and human trafficking allegations against him.
In addition, JPMorgan allegedly would make payments to ‘numerous women with Eastern European surnames who were publicly and internally identified as Epstein recruiters,’ including a $600,000 payment to one Jane Doe who the pedophile purchased when she was just 14 years old.
The complaint goes on to say that Hyperion Air, who owned Epstein’s infamous ‘Lolita Express’ private jet, also issued hundreds of thousands of dollars in checks payable to cash for fuel expenses.
‘Many of these cash withdrawals either exceeded the $10,000 reporting threshold or were seemingly structured to avoid triggering the reporting requirement,’ the lawsuit claims. ‘This is particularly significant since it is well known that Epstein paid his victims in cash.’
Epstein is accused of misusing JPMorgan accounts for nonprofit organizations and used it to pay associates like Les Wexner, as well as ex-girlfriends.
Many thought the lawsuit against JPMorgan might go dead after former Attorney General Denise George was fired shortly after the initial suit was filed.
When Staley quit Barclays in 2021, the American banker intends to contest the findings. He is reportedly ‘shell-shocked, angry and upset’ at the preliminary conclusion of the report.
Barclays meanwhile pointed out that the probe makes no findings that he saw, or was aware of, any of Epstein’s alleged crimes.
Barclays said last year that UK financial regulators were probing links between Mr Staley and Epstein, who killed himself while awaiting trial on sex trafficking offenses.
Staley has previously said his relationship with Epstein – who was also friends with Prince Andrew – ended in late 2015, and that he regretted his relationship with him.
The 64-year-old, who is married to interior designer Debbie, was replaced today by the bank’s head of global markets CS Venkatakrishnan, known as ‘Venkat’.
Barclays said Staley was entitled to 12 months’ notice and will therefore continue to receive his current fixed annual pay of £2.4million in cash and Barclays shares, a pension allowance of £120,000 and other benefits until October 31, 2022.
