The US Virgin Islands’ top prosecutor has lost her job days after filing a lawsuit accusing financial giant JP Morgan Chase of turning a “blind eye” to Jeffrey Epstein’s multi-decade sex trafficking operation.
Attorney General Denise George filed a lawsuit in Manhattan last week alleging that the Wall St giant “provided and pulled the levers through which recruiters and victims” of Epstein’s offending were paid in the court filing, according to Bloomberg.
On New Year’s Eve, Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan confirmed to several news outlets on the island that Ms George had been removed from her role amid reports he had been blindsided by the lawsuit.
“I relieved Denise George of her duties as attorney general this weekend,” Mr Bryan said in a statement to The Independent on Monday.
“I thank her for her service to the people of the territory during the past four years as attorney general and wish her the best in her future endeavours.”
The governor’s spokesperson Richard Motta Jr told The Independent he was “not at liberty to discuss details on personnel matters”.
The attorney general’s office did not immediately reply to requests for comment from The Independent.
Assistant Attorney General Carol Thomas-Jacobs has been appointed to serve as acting attorney general, according to reports.
In December, Ms George announced Epstein’s estate had agreed to pay $105m to the US Virgin Islands government to settle a lawsuit that the late paedophile used his private island in the archipelago for sex-trafficking.
In the lawsuit filed against JP Morgan Chase last week, Ms George alleged JP Morgan “clearly knew it was not complying with federal regulations in regard to Epstein-related accounts”.
“Human trafficking was the principal business of the accounts Epstein maintained at JPMorgan.”
A JP Morgan spokesperson told The Independent they had no comment on the lawsuit.
The US Virgin Islands has requested a jury trial for charges including participating in sex trafficking.
In November, two of Epstein’s victims filed a lawsuit against JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank accusing then of ignoring warning signs about the late paedophile’s offending.
“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,” the women’s attorney Brad Edwards told the Wall Street Journal.
Epstein, who died in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking and abuse charges, owned a private island Little St James in the US Virgin Islands.
A medical examiner ruled his death was suicide.
Multiple victims have described in court and in interviews how they were trafficked to Little St James and abused by Epstein and his powerful network of friends.
His former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June after being convicted of sex-trafficking and abusing girls as young as 14.
