- Jes Staley, 66, accused of having 'profound friendship' with billionaire pedophile
- US Virgin Islands claims JPMorgan had a relationship with Epstein through 2012
- 'Staley exchanged approximately 1,200 emails with Epstein' from work account
- During that time, the bank 'serviced approximately 55 Epstein-related accounts'
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Former Barclays and JP Morgan exec Jes Staley (pictured left) has been accused of being an operative in the late billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's sex ring in a lawsuit
Former Barclays and JP Morgan exec Jes Staley is accused of being an operative in late billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's sex ring, after thousands of emails between the two reveal a 'profound friendship,' a lawsuit claims.
The filing was made in an an amended complaint Tuesday by the US Virgin Islands, which had previously sued JPMorgan over the bank's ties to Epstein. Staley worked at JPMorgan until 2013.
'Between 2008 and 2012, Staley exchanged approximately 1,200 emails with Epstein from his JP Morgan email account,' the amendment alleges. During that time, the bank 'serviced approximately 55 Epstein-related accounts collectively worth hundreds of millions of dollars.'
Staley, 66, had quit Barclays in November 2021 after the bank's board said it was 'disappointed' with the outcome of a report into his links to convicted sex offender Epstein.
'These communications show a close personal relationship and 'profound' friendship between the two men and even suggest that Staley may have been involved in Epstein's sex-trafficking operation,' the amendment continues. '
They also reveal that Staley corresponded with Epstein while Epstein was incarcerated and visited Epstein's Virgin Islands residence on multiple occasions,' according to The Daily Beast.
The US Virgin Islands' suit also claims that Staley was allowed 'to remain a decision-maker on Epstein's accounts' and even asked to discuss the historical, sordid sex trafficking and human trafficking allegations against him.
In addition, JPMorgan allegedly would make payments to 'numerous women with Eastern European surnames who were publicly and internally identified as Epstein recruiters,' including a $600,000 payment to one Jane Doe who the pedophile purchased when she was just 14 years old.
The complaint goes on to say that Hyperion Air, who owned Epstein's infamous 'Lolita Express' private jet, also issued hundreds of thousands of dollars in checks payable to cash for fuel expenses.
'Many of these cash withdrawals either exceeded the $10,000 reporting threshold or were seemingly structured to avoid triggering the reporting requirement,' the lawsuit claims. 'This is particularly significant since it is well known that Epstein paid his victims in cash.'
Epstein is accused of misusing JPMorgan accounts for nonprofit organizations and used it to pay associates like Les Wexner, as well as ex-girlfriends.
Staley had quit Barclays in November 2021 after the bank's board said it was 'disappointed' with the outcome of a report into his links to convicted sex offender Epstein
Staley is accused of exchanging 'approximately 1,200 emails with Epstein' from work account
Epstein is accused of misusing JPMorgan accounts for nonprofit organizations and used it to pay associates like Les Wexner, as well as ex-girlfriends
Many thought the lawsuit against JPMorgan might go dead after former Attorney General Denise George was fired shortly after the initial suit was filed.
When Staley quit Barclays in 2021, the American banker intends to contest the findings. He is reportedly 'shell-shocked, angry and upset' at the preliminary conclusion of the report.
Barclays meanwhile pointed out that the probe makes no findings that he saw, or was aware of, any of Epstein's alleged crimes.
Barclays said last year that UK financial regulators were probing links between Mr Staley and Epstein, who killed himself while awaiting trial on sex trafficking offenses.
Staley has previously said his relationship with Epstein - who was also friends with Prince Andrew - ended in late 2015, and that he regretted his relationship with him.
The 64-year-old, who is married to interior designer Debbie, was replaced today by the bank's head of global markets CS Venkatakrishnan, known as 'Venkat'.
Barclays said Staley was entitled to 12 months' notice and will therefore continue to receive his current fixed annual pay of £2.4million in cash and Barclays shares, a pension allowance of £120,000 and other benefits until October 31, 2022.
Many thought the lawsuit against JPMorgan might go dead after former Attorney General Denise George was fired shortly after the initial suit was filed
Jes Staley and his wife Debbie Staley are pictured together in New York in March 2017
Jes Staley (left) at Jeffrey Epstein's mansion in New York in 2011. Pictured (from left): Mr Staley; former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers; Epstein; Bill Gates, Microsoft's co-founder; and Boris Nikolic, who was the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's science adviser
The Chelsea home belonging to Barclays boss Jes Staley who has now quit the company
Staley was born in Boston in 1956. He is one of four children who moved frequently with their father, Paul, a plant manager for Procter & Gamble.
His father later became CEO of PQ Corporation, a chemicals business based outside Philadelphia, where Staley grew up.
After graduating with a degree in economics from Bowdoin College in Maine in 1979, he joined banking giants JPMorgan on a training program in New York.
He later moved to Brazil to help set up its investment banking venture in South America, where he met his future wife Debbie - just days after arriving.
He returned to New York in 1989 and quickly shot up the ladder at JPMorgan. In 1990 he was asked by then-CEO Sandy Warner to manage the group's private banking division.
Mr Staley is married to interior designer Debbie (above, together in New York in October 2013)
Mr Staley, who has two daughters, Alexa, a physicist, and Sophia, believed to be a legal professional, is also said to own a property in Southampton, US, which is part of the exclusive Long Island coastal area known as the Hamptons. Beachfront property prices there can top £65million.
Staley owns a yacht, Bequia, named after the Caribbean island where he spent his honeymoon
In 2001, he was promoted to CEO of JPMorgan Asset Management and ran the division until 2009.
After 34 years with JPMorgan, he left for BlueMountain Capital Management, now Assured Investment Management, in 2013, before joining Barclays in 2015.
He is also credited as a key supporter of the LGBTQ+ community within the US banking sector, having been inspired by the work of his younger brother Peter, who was diagnosed with AIDS-Related Complex (ARC) in 1985.
Peter founded Act Up, a New York–based AIDS activist group, and would go on to serve as a member of president Bill Clinton's National Task Force on AIDS Drug Development.
Staley meanwhile was recognized for his contributions in making JP Morgan an LGBT-friendly company, having been a key figure in the building up of JP Morgan Pride.
In addition to his connections to former President Clinton, Staley has held Democrat Party fundraisers at his plush New York apartment, said to be a short distance from the Guggenheim museum.
Staley's relationship with Epstein has been under the microscope since revelations about the financier's sex trafficking came to light.
He embarked on a 'professional relationship' with Epstein in 2000, when he became head of JPMorgan's private bank, of which Epstein was a client.
Epstein had been charged with sex crimes and pleaded guilty in 2008 to solicitation of prostitution.
A report by the New York Times in 2019 revealed how compliance officers at JPMorgan Chase conducted a sweep of their wealthy clients in 2009.
According to the report, the compliance officers recommended that the bank cut its ties with Epstein because his accounts posed 'unacceptable legal and reputational risks'.
However he remained a JPMorgan client until 2013.
Staley also admitted he maintained contact with Epstein, who died in a New York prison cell in 2019, for seven years after his 2008 conviction.
He said his last contact with Epstein was in fall 2015, when he and his wife sailed to Epstein's private island for lunch. That trip occurred shortly before he joined Barclays. He said he had no contact with Epstein once he joined the bank in December 2015.
Barclays say the Financial Conduct Authority's probe into Staley's links to Epstein makes no findings that he saw, or was aware of, any of Epstein's alleged crimes.
Speaking in February last year, Staley said: 'For sure, with hindsight with what we know now, I deeply regret having any relationship with Jeffrey.'
A wealthy financier, Epstein was found dead in a New York prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial on allegations that he trafficked girls as young as 14 for sex.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11625647/Lawsuit-accuses-former-Barclays-JPMorgan-exec-involved-Jeffrey-Epstein-sex-ring.html
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