The New York Times is out with an in-depth investigation of Jeffrey Epstein's ties to JPMorgan Chase, and the takeaway is not one that will please the bank. Its headline of "How JPMorgan Enabled the Crimes of Jeffrey Epstein" conveys the gist. The story found that the bank continued to do business with the sex offender long after internal concerns surfaced—in fact, the bank served as an important cog in Epstein's operations in the era when he was routinely sexually abusing teen girls and women. JPMorgan processed thousands of transactions for Epstein—more than $1.1 billion worth—including payments to victims and fishy wire transfers to overseas banks that appear to have been linked to his sex-trafficking operations.
"On at least four occasions, when senior executives at the bank were alerted to these concerns and learned that Epstein was reportedly under federal investigation, they opted to keep doing business with him," per a separate story highlighting key points. Why? Epstein made a lot of money for JPMorgan's private-banking division, and he functioned as a strategic adviser to execs, particularly Jes Staley, who is no longer with the bank, the story explains. For the record, JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon has said Epstein barely registered to him as a client, though Staley said in a sworn statement that he had at least two conversations with Dimon about Epstein. In response to all this, a spokesperson said the bank's relationship with Epstein "was a mistake and in hindsight we regret it, but we did not help him commit his heinous crimes." Read the full story.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
