Banks seek to overturn women’s lawsuits in Jeffrey Epstein case

NEW YORK – Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase are asking a federal court to dismiss lawsuits that claim big banks should have seen evidence of sex trafficking by Jeffrey Epstein, the high-flying financier who killed himself in prison when he was facing criminal charges.

The banks said in documents filed Friday evening that they had not committed any act of negligence that harmed the women who filed the lawsuits and that the lawsuits did not show that they had benefited from the sex trafficking of ‘Epstein.

The filings in federal district court in New York came about a month after two women, both identified as Jane Doe, sued the banks and government of the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein had a house on a little island he owned.

The lawsuits, which seek class-action status to represent other Epstein victims, say the banks knowingly profited from Epstein’s sex trafficking and ‘chose profit over following the law’ to make millions dollars from the financier.

They suggested the banks should have shunned Epstein after his 2006 Florida arrest – he eventually pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting prostitution – and the fallout from a federal investigation and media coverage.

“Without the involvement of the financial institution, Epstein’s sex trafficking scheme could not have existed or thrived,” the lawsuits allege.

JPMorgan Chase said on Friday that Jane Doe in its case “is entitled to justice … But this lawsuit against JPMC is against the wrong party, is legally without merit and must be dismissed.”

Deutsche Bank said it provided “routine banking services” to Epstein from 2013 to 2018, and the lawsuit “doesn’t come close to adequately alleging that Deutsche Bank…was part of Epstein’s criminal sex trafficking ring.” “.