JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Denies Ever Meeting Longtime Bank Client, Convicted Sex Offender Jeffrey Epstein

JPMorgan Chase & Co President and CEO Jamie Dimon testifies during a U.S. House Financial Services Committee hearing titled “Holding Megabanks Accountable: Oversight of America’s Largest Consumer Facing Banks” on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 21, 2022. Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters

The head of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, has denied ever meeting Jeffrey Epstein and said he was unaware that the bank was conducting an internal investigation into its former relationship with the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.

Dimon made the remarks in a deposition in New York on May 26 for lawsuits filed by the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands and an anonymous accuser that claim the bank knowingly benefited from participating in Epstein’s sex-trafficking venture.

Epstein, 66, died in a New York City jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He had been a client of JPMorgan from 2000 to 2013.

According to the deposition (pdf), Dimon was asked when he first heard of Jeffrey Epstein to which he responded, “I recall not hearing about Jeffrey Epstein until about 2018 or sometime in 2019 when the story blew wide open. He was arrested, and all the stories came out about all the people he knows.”

“And the reason I remember that is I was surprised that I didn’t know about it before,” he added.

The lawsuit brought by the U.S. Virgin Islands accuses JPMorgan of enabling Epstein’s sex trafficking by providing banking services to the financier after he had been convicted of sex charges.

It also accuses the bank of concealing suspicious wire and cash transactions, despite the fact that employees at the bank had raised concerns over its relationship with Epstein.

It also suggests that JPMorgan senior officials at the bank were aware of Epstein’s crimes on the private and secluded island of Little St. James in the territory, and of the bank’s role in advancing them.

Jeffrey Epstein (C) appears in court in West Palm Beach, Fla., on July 30, 2008. Uma Sanghvi/Palm Beach Post via AP

JPMorgan Sues Staley

The anonymous woman, meanwhile, has claimed that multiple cash payments came from the bank to pay Epstein’s victims. She argues that JPMorgan opted to maintain a financial relationship with Epstein because he was a high-profile client.

The bank has denied any wrongdoing or that it was aware of Epstein’s abuses and sought, unsuccessfully, to have the lawsuits dismissed.

In March, JPMorgan filed a lawsuit against its former investment banking chief Jes Staley, alleging that Staley protected Epstein. The bank requested that he return all of his compensation from 2006 through 2013 while employed at the bank, totaling more than $80 million.

Staley has claimed that he was unaware of Epstein’s sex crimes despite maintaining a friendly relationship while in his position as chief.

He told The Wall Street Journal in early 2020 that he deeply regrets “having had any relationship” with Epstein.

During his deposition, Dimon was asked if he has ever spoken with Staley after Epstein was indicted in Florida in the summer of 2006 on state felony charges of procuring underage girls for sex.

Epstein ultimately pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a minor and agreed to register as a sex offender.

The JPMorgan head said he had not spoken with Staley after Epstein’s indictment.

“I don’t recall ever having a conversation with him about Jeff Epstein,” he said of Staley before noting that he was also unaware that the bank was conducting an investigation to determine the status of Epstein as a bank client.

U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services' sex offender registry on March 28, 2017. New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services via Reuters

Dimon ‘Never Knew Epstein’

Elsewhere, Dimon denied ever meeting with Epstein after lawyers for the plaintiffs referenced an email from Epstein’s office that suggested he was scheduled to meet with Epstein and Staley at Epstein’s townhouse.

“I have never had an appointment with Jeff Epstein. I’ve never met Jeff Epstein. I never knew Jeff Epstein. I never went to Jeff Epstein’s house. I never had a meal with Jeff Epstein. I have no idea what they’re referring to here,” Dimon said of the email.

In a statement following Dimon’s deposition, a bank spokeswoman told CNBC, “Our CEO reaffirmed after his deposition that, as he has previously said, that he never met with him, never emailed him, does not recall ever discussing his accounts internally, and was not involved in any decisions about his account,” referring to Epstein.

“There are millions and millions of emails and other documents that have been produced in this case and not one comes close to even suggesting that he had any role in decisions about Epstein’s accounts,” the spokeswoman said.

“As we have said, we now know that Epstein’s behavior was monstrous, and his victims deserve justice. In hindsight, any association with him was a mistake and we regret it, but these suits are misdirected as we did not help him commit his heinous crimes,” she added.

Brad Edwards, a lawyer for the unnamed victim who filed a lawsuit against the bank told CNN that it has become “clear” that Epstein could not have operated his sex trafficking operation without the “valuable assistance” of JPMorgan.

“Conveniently, each banker points a finger at the other, claiming this hot potato was someone else’s fault. Regardless how unbelievable the finger-pointing or purported lack of knowledge is, responsibility rests with the bank,” Edwards said.

The Epoch Times has contacted JPMorgan for further comment.