JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon to be deposed in Epstein case, plaintiffs’ lawyer says
JP Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon will be interviewed under oath in connection with the bank’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender and a former client, a lawyer involved in the litigation said on Tuesday.
The deposition is expected to occur in early May, according to Brad Edwards, a lawyer representing women who claim to have been sexually abused by Epstein and are suing the largest U.S. bank for allegedly enabling the financier’s sex trafficking.
JP Morgan declined to comment.
Epstein had been a JPMorgan client from 2000 to 2013, with the last five years coming after he had pleaded guilty to a Florida prostitution charge.
JP Morgan is defending in Manhattan federal court two lawsuits seeking damages over its dealings with Epstein: a proposed class action by Epstein’s accusers and a case brought by the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned a home.
The bank is also suing Jes Staley, a former private banking chief and later Barclays chief executive who had been friendly with Epstein.
JP Morgan wants Staley to reimburse it for eight years of compensation and damages it might incur in the other lawsuits.
The Financial Times earlier reported Dimon’s expected deposition.
Citing a person familiar with an internal JP Morgan probe, the newspaper said there was no record found of Dimon being in direct communication with Epstein or included in any discussion over retaining him as a client.
On March 9, a federal judge ordered JP Morgan to give the U.S. Virgin Islands documents concerning Dimon from 2015 to 2019, after Epstein had been dropped as a client, rejecting the bank’s claim that the territory was on a “fishing expedition”.
Deutsche Bank, where Epstein was a client from 2013 to 2018, is also being sued by the financier’s accusers.
Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell at age 66 in August 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
Reuters – New York bureau and Jaiveer Shekhawat in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Sonali Paul