NEW YORK (Reuters) -JPMorgan Chase & Co and Deutsche Bank AG asked a U.S. judge to dismiss lawsuits by women who accused Jeffrey Epstein of sexual abuse, and said the banks enabled and ignored red flags concerning the late financier’s sex trafficking.
The banks in papers filed on Friday night in Manhattan federal court said they didn’t take part in or profit from sex trafficking by their former client and that the unnamed women didn’t allege violations of a federal anti-trafficking law.
The banks also said they’d no duty to guard the ladies from Epstein and didn’t cause his abuses, requiring the dismissal of claims under a recent law in Latest York that lets abuse victims sue even when statutes of limitations have expired.
“Jane Doe 1 is a survivor of Epstein’s sexual abuse, and he or she is entitled to justice,” but filed meritless claims against the “fallacious party,” JPMorgan said in its filing.
A lawyer for the ladies says the facts, as described of their complaints, speak for themselves.
“We’re upset within the banks’ continuing effort to avoid taking responsibility for his or her role within the expansion and perpetuation of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring,” David Boies, the lawyer, said in a press release to Reuters.
Each lawsuits seek class-action status and unspecified damages. They were filed on Nov. 24 by lawyers who’ve represented many Epstein accusers.
Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Epstein was a JPMorgan client from about 2000 to 2013, and a Deutsche Bank client from 2013 to 2018, court papers show.
The JPMorgan plaintiff is a former ballet dancer who said Epstein abused and trafficked her from 2006 to 2013, while the Deutsche Bank plaintiff said she suffered from similar misconduct between 2003 and 2018.
Each said quite a few money payments from the banks were used to pay Epstein’s victims.
Latest York state’s financial regulator in July 2020 fined Deutsche Bank $150 million over its relationship with Epstein.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein had a house, sued JPMorgan, saying the bank turned a “blind eye” to his trafficking while providing banking services.
The cases are Jane Doe 1 v Deutsche Bank AG et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Latest York, No. 22-10018, and Jane Doe 1 v JPMorgan Chase & Co in the identical court, No. 22-10019.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in Latest York; Editing by Mark Porter)
Copyright 2022 Thomson Reuters.