Jeffrey Epstein’s victims have launched lawsuits against two major banks accusing them of aiding his sex-trafficking empire, according to a new report.
The Wall Street Journal reported that several women who fell prey to Epstein’s sexual abuse have filed legal claims against JP Morgan Chase and Deutsche Bank for ignoring warning signs about the late paedophile’s offending.
Attorney Bradley Edwards told the Journal that Epstein had not acted alone during his decades of grooming and sexually abusing young girls.
“The time has come for the real enablers to be held responsible, especially his wealthy friends and the financial institutions that played an integral role,” Mr Edwards said.
The two victims, who are seeking to create a class action lawsuit, have not been identified.
In a statement to The Independent, a spokesman for Deutsche Bank said: “We believe this claim lacks merit and will present our arguments in court.”
A JP Morgan Chase spokesperson told The Independent they were declining to comment.
Epstein committed suicide while in prison awaiting trial for federal sex-trafficking charges in August 2019.
According to the lawsuit taken against JP Morgan, one woman, a former ballet dancer, was sexually abused by Epstein and his friends from 2006 to 2013.
She alleges large sums of money were withdrawn from JP Morgan to pay her and other victims in cash for sex acts.
In a separate suit taken against Deutsche Bank, another woman alleges she was trafficked for sex by Epstein between 2003 and 2018.
The claim accuses Deutsche Bank of turning a blind eye about payments to her and other women.
Under the Bank Secrecy Act, financial institutions are required to monitor and report suspicious activity related to illegal activities such as human-trafficking.
At Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial for sex-trafficking minors in New York last December, the court heard how the socialite was paid $31m by Epstein for helping him recruit and abuse young victims.
The JP Morgan Chase suit claims that Maxwell kept accounts at the bank.
In 2020, New York state financial regulators fined Deutsche Bank $150m for its lack of oversight of suspicious transactions made by Epstein.
