Class Action Lawsuits Accuse Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan of ‘Financially Benefiting’ from Epstein Sex Trafficking Ring

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Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan Chase & Co. have each been hit with a proposed class action lawsuit that alleges the financial institutions illegally benefited from providing financial support for Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking activities.

The lawsuits, filed in the Southern District of New York on November 24, allege Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan provided the requisite financial support for Epstein, who died by apparent suicide in his jail cell on August 10, 2019, to continually operate his international sex trafficking organization over the course of more than a decade. More specifically, the suits say Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan knowingly and intentionally benefited from “assisting, supporting, facilitating, and otherwise providing the most critical service” to Epstein and his co-conspirators, who were enabled to “successfully rape, sexually assault, and coercively sex traffic” the plaintiffs and numerous other women.

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Further, the suits claim the defendants knew that Epstein would use “means of force, threats of force, fraud, abuse of legal process, exploitation of power disparity, and a variety of other forms of coercion” to wrangle young women into engaging in commercial sex acts.

“Knowing that they would earn millions of dollars from facilitating Epstein’s sex abuse and trafficking, [the banks] chose profits over following the law,” the similar lawsuits state.

The complaints, each filed by a pseudonymous Jane Doe plaintiff, allege Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan have run afoul of the federal Trafficking Victim Protection Act and the New York Adult Survivors Act. The suit against Deutsche Bank also alleges violations of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

Epstein was an “enormously powerful” and well-connected man, known to have close personal relationships with former U.S. presidents, politicians, billionaires, and world leaders, and the “backing and support” of powerful banking institutions, the lawsuits relay. Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation began in the early 1990s, and from its inception until Epstein was arrested by the FBI in 2019, the venture’s primary aim was to lure young women and girls into a position where they would be coerced into engaging in commercial sex acts, the filings state.

The lawsuits stress that Epstein “did not, and could not, act alone,” and that his sex-trafficking venture would not have been possible without “the assistance and complicity of a financial institution,” which provided the scheme “an appearance of legitimacy” and special treatment.

“Without the financial institution’s participation, Epstein’s sex trafficking scheme could not have existed,” the suits say, alleging the operation was backed by “virtually unlimited wealth” from powerful individuals and financial institutions alike.

According to the lawsuits, the constant expansion of Epstein’s sex-trafficking activities required increasing amounts of cash on hand, including to pay victims hush money, cover the costs of immigration and travel arrangements, and pay each victim’s “finder” a fee. In order to access the large amounts of cash he needed to maintain the pervasive sexual abuse of young women, “it was essential” that financial institutions where Epstein banked be “complicit in his operation” and allow him to make constant withdrawals and transfers without following anti-money laundering and reporting laws, the suits argue. Per the cases, both JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank ignored “multiple red flags of criminality” in order to profit from Epstein’s business and connections.

The case against JP Morgan alleges the bank worked “closely” with Epstein through “every step” of his sex-trafficking operation during its most prolific years, between 2000 and 2013. The lawsuit against Deutsche Bank alleges the German investment bank “picked up exactly where JP Morgan left off” after that bank “began separating itself” from Epstein in 2013, when “the world knew Epstein was now perhaps the most famous sex offender.”

According to the case against JP Morgan, the bank knew that its accounts were being used by Epstein for trafficking based on “a number of factors,” including, but not limited to, the identity of the individuals making withdrawals and wire transfers, the identity of the recipients, the pattern of financial activity, and Epstein’s well-documented criminal history and involvement with trafficking. Likewise, Deutsche Bank “knowingly participated” in the scheme by, among other things, providing the “financial underpinnings” for Epstein and his co-conspirators to have ready and reliable access to resources, including cash, to recruit, lure, coerce and entice young women and girls to be sexually abused and engage in commercial sex acts, the case alleges.

The case against JP Morgan looks to represent all women who were sexually trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein during the time when JP Morgan maintained bank accounts for Epstein and/or Epstein-related entities, in or about 2000 through in or about August 2013. The lawsuit against Deutsche Bank looks to cover all women who were sexually trafficked by Epstein during the time when Deutsche Bank maintained bank accounts for Epstein and/or his related entities, in or about August 19, 2013 through in or about December 31, 2018.

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