Jeffrey Epstein in 2004.
Rick Friedman | Corbis News | Getty Images
A high House Democrat requested 4 main bank CEOs to share a slew of economic records associated to Jeffrey Epstein, pushing ahead an investigation into the infamous intercourse predator, after the lawmaker’s effort to subpoena the banks for the paperwork was blocked by Republicans.
House Judiciary Committee rating member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., in letters to the CEOs obtained by CNBC, requested how Epstein and his co-conspirators might have carried out a reported $1.5 billion in suspicious transactions “for years without ever being caught.”
The letters had been despatched on Wednesday to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Bank of America chief Brian Moynihan, Deutsche Bank chief Christian Sewing and Bank of New York Mellon CEO Robin Vince.
Download Raskin’s letters to Dimon, Moynihan, Sewing and Vince.
The letters got here because the Trump administration continues to face strain — from Democrats and from a few of President Donald Trump‘s Republican supporters — over its dealing with of issues associated to Epstein.
The rich financier and intercourse offender, who was as soon as a buddy of Trump’s, died by suicide whereas in jail going through federal baby intercourse trafficking expenses in 2019.
In his letters, Raskin bluntly requested every CEO if their bank will “help reveal the truth” about Epstein and his co-conspirators, or if they’d “choose to be part of the cover-up for this massive, international sex trafficking ring that victimized more than 1,000 women and girls?”
Deutsche Bank, in an announcement to CNBC, mentioned that it “takes its legal obligations seriously, including appropriately responding to authorized investigations and proceedings.” The assertion didn’t explicitly decide to complying with Raskin’s requests.
“The bank regrets our historical connection with Jeffrey Epstein,” Deutsche Bank mentioned. “We have cooperated with regulatory and law enforcement agencies regarding their investigations and have been transparent in addressing deficiencies and investing in strengthening our control environment in parallel.”
JPMorgan declined to touch upon Raskin’s request.
The congressman, in his letter to Dimon, emphasised that the CEO not too long ago mentioned, referring to Epstein, that he and JPMorgan “regret any association with that man at all.”
Raskin additionally famous that Dimon had dedicated to offering data to the Judiciary Committee.
But Dimon had specified that he would adjust to a subpoena, saying, “If it’s a legal requirement, we would conform to it. We have no issue with that.”
JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank have each paid substantial sums to settle lawsuits accusing them of facilitating and financially benefiting from intercourse trafficking by their consumer, Epstein.
In 2023, JPMorgan agreed to pay $290 million to settle a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Epstein victims and reached a $75 million settlement in a separate case introduced by the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The similar 12 months, Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $75 million to Epstein victims to settle a go well with.
Bank of America and BNY Mellon didn’t reply to CNBC’s requests for touch upon Raskin’s letters to their CEOs.
Raskin wrote that he was sending the letters after Republicans, who maintain a majority on the Judiciary panel voted in opposition to Democratic members’ attempt to issue subpoenas to the 4 bank CEOs final month.
The subpoena effort fell in a virtually party-line vote. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky was the one Republican to vote in favor of the subpoenas.
The request for subpoenas got here on the finish of a listening to with FBI Director Kash Patel, whom Democrats grilled concerning the Trump administration’s dealing with of the so-called Epstein recordsdata.
Raskin, in his letters, asserted that Patel’s testimony confirmed that his FBI “has failed to ‘follow the money'” concerning suspicious transactions associated to Epstein that the banks had reported to the Treasury Department.
Raskin’s letters centered on records generally known as Suspicious Activity Reports, SARs, which banks are required to file once they discover sure uncommon monetary actions that could be related to unlawful conduct.
The lawmaker accused every of the 4 banks of both ignoring or failing to adequately report pink flags about Epstein’s monetary transfers.
Deutsche Bank, as an example, “witnessed but failed to report a stream of red flags relating to Mr. Epstein, including his attorneys sending millions of dollars to women with Eastern European surnames,” Raskin instructed Sewing.
JPMorgan “did not file a single SAR” till after Epstein’s loss of life, “despite the flagrant nature” of his actions, Raskin wrote to Dimon.
Bank of America seems to have filed simply two “significantly delayed” SARs about “$170 million in transactions between Mr. Epstein and billionaire investor Leon Black,” the lawmaker instructed Moynihan.
BNY Mellon reportedly filed SARs linked to $378 million in Epstein-related funds solely “years after Mr. Epstein’s death,” Raskin wrote to Vince.
Raskin’s letters cited findings from an investigation being led by Senate Finance Committee rating member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who says that bank records held by the Treasury Department present Epstein-related transactions totaling at least $1.5 billion.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., who’s main his personal probe of Epstein’s cash path, in mid-September mentioned that the Treasury Department pledged to share paperwork along with his panel.
Raskin needs the banks to offer all details about any transaction referring to Epstein, his convicted confederate, Ghislaine Maxwell, or their victims that had been recognized for “further review, inspection, or discussion.”
He additionally requested for all inner communications and discussions with federal authorities about Epstein, in addition to any threat assessments and due diligence studies that the banks might have created.
The requests cowl records spanning from 1998 to the current day. Raskin requested them to ship the supplies to his committee by 5 p.m. ET on Oct. 22.
Raskin appealed to the banks’ reputations in his letters.
“If you truly regret JPMorgan’s shameful association with Mr. Epstein, we trust that you will work with us to promptly produce these records and help us ensure that neither your bank nor any other American bank ever again enables and bankrolls a criminal sex trafficking ring like Mr. Epstein’s,” he wrote to Dimon.
— CNBC’s Hugh Son contributed to this report.