Former Barclays boss ‘abused girls while visiting Jeffrey Epstein’s island retreat’
Ex-Barlcays executive Jes Staley is accused of abusing girls at the late Jeffrey Epstein's US Virgin Islands retreat.
A former executive at Barclays is accused of sexually abusing girls at the late Jeffrey Epstein’s US Virgin Islands retreat.
Jes Staley, CEO of Barclays until November 2021, allegedly ‘used aggressive force in his sexual assault of [anonymous victim ‘JPM Jane Doe’] and informed [her] that he had Epstein’s permission to do what he wanted to her’, states a new court ruling.
Staley, who headed JPMorgan’s private banking division from 2000 to 2009, began working on Epstein’s account around his first year in the position. Staley developed a close friendship with financier Epstein, according to the ruling issued on Monday.
Lawsuits against JPMorgan claim that Staley knew about Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation. Suits filed by the US Virgin Islands and an Epstein accuser allege that JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank had knowledge of Epstein’s actions and ‘knowingly benefitted from participating in a sex-trafficking venture’.
In Monday’s ruling, District Court Judge Jed Rakoff said that JPMorgan Chase Bank could be liable to Epstein’s accusers if they prove that Staley knew first-hand about Epstein’s illegal operation.
JPMorgan has said that Staley is at fault given his relationship to Epstein and that the suits do not have merit.
Staley has been accused of visiting young girls at Epstein’s apartments and observing them. Staley exchanged 1,200 emails with Epstein from 2008 to 2012 including some that contained photos of young women in ‘seductive’ positions. The banking executive visited Epstein’s Little St James island within the US Virgin Islands.
Epstein’s victims claimed that he agreed to bring rich clients to JPMorgan in return for Staley using his influence at the lender to shield Epstein and his sex-trafficking scheme.
The US Virgin Islands accused Staley and Epstein of sending each other sexually suggestive messages about girls. ‘That was fun. Say hi to Snow White,’ Staley wrote in an email, according to Rakoff.
An email from December 2009 ‘consisted entirely of a picture of a young women’, according to the ruling.
Staley’s lawyer Kathleen Harris has declined to comment.
Epstein was arrested on sex trafficking charges in 2019 and died in his jail cell in August of that year.
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