AG Sues JPMorgan, Alleges It Turned 'Blind Eye' to Epstein - Gets Horrible News Days Later
Just after Christmas, the attorney general of the U.S. Virgin Islands filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase, which she said had ignored claims of inappropriate behavior by late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Four days later, she was fired, leading to some online speculation of unspecified “corruption” despite the fact the lawsuit remains pending.
Gov. Albert Bryan terminated Attorney General Denise George on Dec. 31 because she hadn’t informed him of the lawsuit prior to filing it, according to The Virgin Islands Consortium, citing an unnamed source “with knowledge of the matter.”
“I relieved Denise George of her duties as attorney general this weekend,” Bryan said in a statement to The Independent Monday. “I thank her for her service to the people of the territory during the past four years as attorney general and wish her the best in her future endeavours.”
A spokesman for the governor told The Independent that he was “not at liberty to discuss details on personnel matters.”
JPMorgan Chase, a multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York, is accused in the lawsuit of being “indispensable to the operation and concealment of the Epstein trafficking enterprise,” The Hill reported.
“Upon information and belief, JP Morgan turned a blind eye to evidence of human trafficking over more than a decade because of Epstein’s own financial footprint,” George argued, “and because of the deals and clients that Epstein brought and promised to bring to the bank.”
“Human trafficking was the principal business of the accounts Epstein maintained at JPMorgan,” the suit said, according to The Independent.
According to multiple reports, the company had refused to comment on the lawsuit, citing a long-time policy of not commenting on pending litigation. However, The Consortium cited one source as having stated that “long before his ongoing misconduct became known,” Epstein was no longer doing business with JPMorgan Chase.
[firefly_poll]
The key to that statement might be the word “ongoing.” The Hill reported that JPMorgan Chase “dropped” Epstein as a client in 2013; Epstein, however, had pleaded guilty to procuring a girl under the age of 18 for prostitution in 2008 after years of investigations.
The Consortium also cited multiple sources who said that the governor had already been “frustrated” with his attorney general of four years.
Her filing of a lawsuit against such a large corporation without informing him in advance was “the final straw,” they said.
“Epstein, who died in 2019 as he was awaiting a trial on charges of human trafficking and sexual abuse of minors in New York, owned a secluded private island, Little St. James, in the U.S. Virgin Islands,” The Hill reported.
The Hill cited other, unnamed, reports that banking executives had worked to keep Epstein with JPMorgan Chase because of his network of wealthy potential customers.
President Joe Biden and his wife vacationed in the U.S. Virgin Islands during roughly the same time frame as the filing of the lawsuit and George’s firing, leading to some conspiracy theorists connecting the events on social media. However, Biden vacationed at St. Croix — a different island from those on which the governor’s mansion and offices are located — and has in fact vacationed at St. Croix 10 or 12 times since his election as vice president in 2008, The Associated Press reported.
The lawsuit remains pending, and the U.S. Virgin Islands has requested a jury trial in the matter.
In June, Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for charges related to the trafficking and sexual abuse of girls as young as 14.
Two unnamed women filed suit against JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank in November, arguing that the banks “ignored red flags” and continued to allow financial transactions that permitted his activities to continue, The Wall Street Journal reported.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.