JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to pay $75 million to the Virgin Islands to resolve a lawsuit in which the territory accused the financial institution of facilitating sexual crimes against minors carried out by Jeffrey Epstein.
The agreement between both parties is provisional, because, within a few weeks, a trial against JPMorgan Chase & Co. will be held in a federal court in Manhattan, N.Y.
Initially, the Virgin Islands requested a total of $190 million from JPMorgan Chase for its involvement with the known pedophile's illegal activity. Epstein died on Aug. 10, 2019. Now, the territory will receive less than half of what it initially requested.
"JPMorgan Chase believes this settlement is in the best interest of all parties," the company said in a statement reported by Bloomberg. "While the settlement does not involve admissions of liability, the firm deeply regrets any association with this man, and would never have continued doing business with him if it believed he was using the bank in any way to commit his heinous crimes."
JPMorgan Chase has already compensated Jeffrey Epstein's victims
In June, the financial firm agreed to pay Jeffrey Epstein's victims a multi-million-dollar sum to resolve a class action lawsuit they filed against the bank for their ties and business dealings with the sex offender. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the compensation was around $290 million.
"The parties believe this settlement is in the best interests of all parties, especially the survivors who were the victims of Epstein’s terrible abuse. ... We all now understand that Epstein’s behavior was monstrous, and we believe this settlement is in the best interest of all parties, especially the survivors, who suffered unimaginable abuse at the hands of this man," the bank said in a statement.
