JPMorgan Chase is resisting makes an attempt by attorneys to query Jamie Dimon beneath oath in litigation over the US financial institution’s resolution to retain Jeffrey Epstein as a shopper for 15 years, though it has agreed for one among its longtime chief govt’s key lieutenants to be deposed.
In paperwork filed to a New York court docket on Tuesday, attorneys for the lender — which faces associated lawsuits from an Epstein sufferer and the US Virgin Islands, the place the late intercourse offender had a house — mentioned they didn’t imagine Dimon was an “applicable deponent”.
Attorneys for JPMorgan did comply with discover a date in March for a deposition of Mary Erdoes, the top of JPMorgan’s asset and wealth administration division, the place Epstein was a shopper. Erdoes stays one of many financial institution’s high executives.
Additionally they agreed to discover a date for attorneys to interview Mary Casey, one other personal banker at JPMorgan within the interval earlier than the lender finally dropped Epstein as a shopper in 2013.
The developments are available in two fast-moving civil circumstances that allege JPMorgan knowingly facilitated Epstein’s pay-offs to victims and accomplices who helped him recruit younger ladies.
Simply days earlier, attorneys for each plaintiffs requested the court docket to compel JPMorgan at hand over extra paperwork detailing Dimon’s communications, alleging that he performed a task in deciding to maintain banking Epstein regardless of quite a few inner pink flags about human trafficking.
An inner e-mail cited by the US Virgin Island’s grievance earlier this month reads: “I might rely Epstein’s property as a possible outflow for ’08 ($120mn or so?) as I can’t think about it’s going to keep (pending Dimon assessment).”
Final week, JPMorgan mentioned: “We’ve discovered no proof of, nor does [Dimon] recall, such a assessment.”
In its response filed to the court docket on Tuesday, JPMorgan claimed Dimon was “not related” to the Virgin Islands’ case and added “he was not concerned in any choices relating to Epstein’s account”.
It mentioned increasing the vary of communications the financial institution was required at hand over “would enhance the variety of paperwork captured” by search phrases “from at the very least 364,000 to at the very least 694,000”.
The filings on Tuesday additionally contained claims from attorneys for the US Virgin Islands that Jes Staley, the previous JPMorgan govt who went on to steer UK financial institution Barclays, was personally concerned within the resolution to maintain Epstein on as a shopper in 2008, even after Epstein was arrested for soliciting a minor in Florida.
The attorneys cited an inner JPMorgan trade by which it was famous: “Jes Staley conferred with [then JPMorgan general counsel] Stephen Cutler and the choice was made to maintain him . . . as a [private banking] shopper.”
They added Cutler “additionally was included in at the very least one speedy response assembly associated to new data relating to Epstein’s human trafficking”.
Inside emails famous Epstein “would require re-approval by Steve Cutler whether it is decided that the connection might be retained”, in line with an trade cited in court docket filings.
JPMorgan declined to remark. Cutler and a lawyer for Staley didn’t reply to a request for remark.
