JPMorgan Chase has reached a settlement agreement in a class action lawsuit with the victims of former financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The settlement was reached on Monday in what the company said was in the “best interest if all parties.”
“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,” JPMorgan Chase said in a written statement early Monday.
Epstein was arrested in 2019 for allegedly paying underage girls for massages at his homes in Florida and in New York and then molesting them.
The abuse was said to have gone on from 1998 through August 2013.
According to the lawsuits, Epstein was able to pay the victims hundreds of dollars because he was provided with loans through JPMorgan, and was regularly allowed to withdraw large sums of cash. It was also alleged that the company allowed him to move the cash in the way that he did even though they were aware of his sex trafficking practices.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon testified that he was unaware of Epstein’s actions until was arrested in 2019.
“Any association with him was a mistake and we regret it,” the bank said in a statement. “We would never have continued to do business with him if we believed he was using our bank in any way to help commit heinous crimes.”
JPMorgan has filed suit against former executive, Jes Staley, who they claimed knew of Epstein’s practices and hid them from the company.
Litigation on the suit is still pending.