JPMorgan Chase exec Erdoes sought tax advice, Madoff intel from Epstein, suit alleges
Legal filings have alleged that JPMorgan Chase executive Mary Callahan Erdoes sought advice from disgraced former financier Jeffrey Epstein in 2005 to address a $600 million tax issue. Erdoes, who later became head of the bank’s asset and wealth management division, personally sought help from Epstein for someone else, but the identity of that individual was redacted in the court documents filed by the U.S. Virgin Islands. A JPMorgan spokeswoman clarified that the request was merely for an introduction and occurred before Epstein’s arrest or any official accusations of crimes against him.
The recent accusations about JPMorgan’s long-standing association with Epstein surfaced as part of a lawsuit by the U.S. Virgin Islands, which accuses the bank of facilitating Epstein’s sex trafficking operation. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while in custody on child sex trafficking charges. The U.S. Virgin Islands has sought partial summary judgment in its favor, and JPMorgan has also filed a motion for partial summary judgment. The territory claims that Epstein was considered a “personal resource” for Erdoes and her former boss, Jes Staley and that the bank retained Epstein as a client despite knowing about the accusations against him as early as 2006. JPMorgan eventually cut ties with Epstein in 2013 and later agreed to pay $290 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Epstein’s victims. However, the USVI’s lawsuit against the bank is still ongoing. In 2008, after the discovery of the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme, Erdoes allegedly asked Staley to reach out to Epstein for information related to the situation in Florida, where many of Madoff’s victims lived. JPMorgan responded that any potential call would have been made to gather further details from Epstein about the situation.