Newly-released emails shed new light on the close relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and former JPMorgan executive and Barclays CEO Jes Staley.
Epstein and Staley exchanged more than a thousand emails, many of which included photos of young women in seductive poses, according to court documents released this week by the US Virgin Islands government.
“I’m in the hot tub with a glass of white wine … I owe you much. And I deeply appreciate our friendship. I have few so profound,” Staley emailed Epstein in 2009, according to court documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Epstein in 2009 had completed a sentence for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
One month later, Jes Staley allegedly wrote to Jeffrey Epstein to say how great it had been to give him “a long, heartfelt hug”, after which Epstein allegedly sent Staley two pictures of young women.
Epstein was a client of JPMorgan from about 2000 to 2013. Staley served in a variety of senior private banking and wealth management roles at JPMorgan until leaving the bank in 2013.
Epstein was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
JP Morgan executive Jes Staley emails Jeffrey Epstein in July 2010, ONE YEAR AFTER Epstein got out of jail
Staley:
"That was fun. Say hi to Snow White"
Epstein:
"What character would you like next?"
Staley:
"Beauty and the Beast"
Epstein:
"Well, one side is available" pic.twitter.com/2UY0DWtUmU
— An Open Secret (@AnOpenSecret) February 16, 2023
The US Virgin Islands is suing JPMorgan, alleging that the bank facilitated Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking, including at his home on the island of Little St. James, by allowing him access to bank accounts and approving transfers he used to pay young women. The suit says the bank approved payments by Epstein to at least 20 young women or girls who were victims of Epstein.
The newly released emails show Epstein sending Staley photos of young women and discussing trips to Little St. James. The photos, which the suit describes as featuring “young women in seductive poses,” are redacted.
“That was fun. Say hi to Snow White”, Jes Staley wrote in a July 2010 email to Epstein, according to court documents.
Epstein responded: “[W]hat character would you like next?” and Staley replied, “Beauty and the Beast”.
The suit also alleges Epstein wired money to a woman after Staley stayed at Epstein’s Palm Beach, Florida, mansion and then again to the same woman when Staley told Epstein he would be in London.
The suit also alleges that Staley had vouched for Jeffrey Epstein as a client of JPMorgan when internal compliance officers raised questions. Court documents show the bank’s compliance team repeatedly asked for reassurances after Epstein was first indicted on sex-crime charges in 2006, when he pleaded guilty to those charges in 2008, and in later years when news reports about similar behavior continued to surface.
JPMorgan has said it cut off Epstein’s accounts in 2013, shortly after Staley left the bank.
JPMorgan claims it didn’t facilitate any possible crimes committed by Epstein. The US Virgin Islands, the bank has said, should have stopped Epstein.
Jes Staley resigned from Barclays in November 2021 amid a British regulatory investigation into whether the bank had been truthful about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Staley claims he was friends with Epstein but never knew about his alleged crimes. Staley said he ended the friendship before he became Barclays CEO.
Barclays has said its own investigation found no evidence Jes Staley knew about Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged crimes.
In December 2022, then-US Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase regarding the bank’s financial dealings with Epstein, alleging that the Wall Street finance behemoth benefited from his sex trafficking escapades while subsequently failing to report suspicious activity to the authorities.
“Over more than a decade, JPMorgan clearly knew it was not complying with federal regulations in regard to Epstein-related accounts as evidenced by its too-little too-late efforts after Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges and shortly after his death, when JPMorgan (JPM) belatedly complied with federal law”, says the complaint filed by George.
Epstein was found dead in his New York City jail cell in 2019. A medical examiner ruled that he died by suicide.
Previous reports noted that former President Bill Clinton hung out with Epstein far more than previously known.
Epstein allegedly visited Bill Clinton frequently at the White House.
Unearthed visitor logs also show that Epstein visited the Clinton White House at least 17 times during Clinton’s first term in office.
Bill Clinton has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s sexual misdeeds, but had maintained ties with him over the years and was said to have been a passenger on Epstein’s private jet – Lolita Express – several times, including once in 2002 when the ex-president was photographed with one of Epstein’s eventual rape accusers. Maxwell attended the 2010 wedding of Clinton’s daughter Chelsea.
