Parties seek court approval of JPMorgan Chase $290 million settlement over Epstein ties

By Lauren del Valle, CNN

New York (CNN) — Attorneys filed a preliminary plan to facilitate a $290 million settlement fund for JPMorgan Chase to compensate victims of Jeffrey Epstein.

If approved by a federal judge the settlement will resolve a class action lawsuit first brought on November 2022 alleging that the financial institution where Epstein banked for 15 years facilitated and enabled Epstein’s sex trafficking enterprise.

The agreed upon settlement first announced by the parties earlier this month may compensate anyone “harmed, injured, exploited, or abused” by Jeffrey Epstein or an associate of his or his sex trafficking from January 1, 1998, to August 10, 2019 — the time frame coinciding with the beginning of Epstein’s banking relationship with JPMC and his death although the bank cut ties with him in 2013.

The proposed settlement does not put a cap on potential awards to eligible victims — unlike the settlement plan negotiated by the same plaintiff attorneys in a similar lawsuit with Deutsche Bank, which was recently granted preliminary approval — that provides approved claimants $75,000 to $5 million in compensation for abuse by Epstein from 2013 until his death in 2019.

The class action lawsuit represented by an anonymous Epstein victim also alleged JPMC aided Epstein in evading regulators and prevented authorities from discovering the illegal scheme — allowing Epstein to increase the size and scale of his access to and control of victims.

JPMorgan does not admit any liability or wrongdoing per the settlement.

“JPMC is entering into this Stipulation solely to eliminate the burden, expense, and uncertainty of further protracted litigation. For the avoidance of any doubt, JPMC makes no admission of liability, fault, damages, or any form of wrongdoing whatsoever, and this Settlement in no way represents, and may not be construed as, an admission of the merits of any claim,” the settlement stipulation says.

Attorneys for the parties have suggested Simone Lelchuk oversee the JPMC settlement process as she has already been appointed claims administrator for the Deutsche Bank settlement. Lelchuk also oversaw a claims fund to resolve sexual abuse claim against Harvey Weinstein and affiliated companies.

Claimants can see the award money from both bank settlements, though the JPMorgan settlement language notes that any award amount received through the Deutsche Bank settlement will be considered when processing their claim with JPMC.

The claim administrator will also consider the “the circumstances, severity, type, and extent of the alleged harm, injury, exploitation, abuse or trafficking, the nature and duration of the relationship with Epstein, any cooperation with government investigations or refusal to cooperate with government investigations or refusal to cooperate with this civil litigation including any convictions relating to Epstein’s sex trafficking venture, and the impact of the alleged conduct on the Participating Claimant,” according to the settlement plan pending approval.

The administrator can evaluate a claimant’s credibility and their determination, including a denial, is final under the current plan.

The victims also must sign a release barring them from bringing any related litigation against the financial institution and its affiliates in the future.

Victims can formally opt out of the class reserving their right to bring their own lawsuit.

JPMorgan Chase remains tied up in litigation over its longtime relationship with Epstein in a pending lawsuit brought by the government of the US Virgin Islands.

The bank is also pursuing restitution from its former executive Jes Staley, whose close relationship with Epstein is largely to blame for the convicted sex trafficker’s continued account at JPMC, according to the cross claim brought by the bank.

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