Albert Bryan Jr., governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, speaks all through the SelectUSA Expense Summit in National Harbor, Maryland, on May well 2, 2023.
Ting Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
The governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands is scheduled to be deposed following month in a civil lawsuit by that territory’s govt from JPMorgan Chase around sexual intercourse trafficking by the late predator Jeffrey Epstein, in accordance to a court docket filing Tuesday.
The filing seems to be the 1st mention of the planned June 6 deposition of Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. in the suit, which is pending in U.S. District Courtroom in Manhattan.
The filing does not show why Bryan’s testimony under oath is becoming sought in the circumstance. A resource acquainted with the circumstance explained to CNBC that JPMorgan asked for the deposition.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is scheduled to be deposed in the go well with Friday in New York.
Judge Jed Rakoff, who is presiding about the situation, final 7 days licensed the Virgin Islands to provide a subpoena for Tesla CEO Elon Musk on his electric car or truck firm, seeking files that Musk may have demonstrating any communications involving him, Epstein and JPMorgan.
That subpoena is primarily based on suspicion by the territory that Epstein could have referred Musk or tried using to refer him to the bank as a customer.
The Virgin Islands suit alleges that JPMorgan facilitated sex trafficking by its longtime banking consumer Epstein and benefited from it. The lender denies these allegations.
Epstein, a previous close friend of Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, preserved a home on a personal island in the territory the place he sexually abused quite a few younger gals about the several years. He used money from his JPMorgan accounts to pay back girls and fly them there.
The lawsuit was submitted in late December by then-Virgin Islands Legal professional Typical Denise George, who a thirty day period earlier had received a $105 million settlement from Epstein’s estate. Days soon after she submitted that suit, Bryan fired George, who experienced been legal professional general for 4 decades.
The governor fired George reportedly mainly because she failed to notify him that she planned to sue JPMorgan, which is the premier financial institution in the United States.
Jeffrey Epstein’s previous dwelling on the island of Very little St. James in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Emily Michot | Miami Herald | Getty Illustrations or photos
In spite of George’s firing, the Virgin Islands has ongoing to aggressively pursue its litigation towards the financial institution.
On Tuesday, there was an additional in a collection of non-public telephone conferences with Rakoff around the case.
A public docket entry summarized the outcome of that conference, which incorporated legal professionals for the Virgin Islands, JPMorgan, previous JPMorgan govt Jes Staley and an Epstein accuser who has a separate, equivalent lawsuit pending against the lender. JPMorgan is trying to shift any lawful liability it could have in the accommodate to Staley, who was a position of call for Epstein at the bank.
“The deposition of Albert Bryan, Jr. is ordered to continue on June 6,” that docket entry suggests.
The entry also suggests that “all parties other than JP Morgan are purchased to speak to previous officers and directors of JP Morgan only by means of counsel.”
CNBC requested comment from attorneys for the Virgin Islands and from JPMorgan about the convention Tuesday.
Prices versus Jeffrey Epstein were being announced on July 8, 2019 in New York Metropolis. Epstein will be billed with a person count of sex trafficking of minors and a person count of conspiracy to have interaction in sexual intercourse trafficking of minors.
Stephanie Keith | Getty Illustrations or photos Information | Getty Images
Epstein, 66, died by suicide in a Manhattan jail in August 2019, a month right after he was arrested and billed in Manhattan federal courtroom with baby intercourse trafficking.
Epstein pleaded responsible in 2008 to a Florida state demand of soliciting sex from an underage girl and was sentenced to 13 months in jail.
His prior legal situation and stint in jail, which have been known to JPMorgan at the time, came in the middle of his tenure as a buyer of the lender, wherever he managed accounts from 1998 right up until the bank severed its partnership with him in 2013.
Epstein grew to become a client of Deutsche Financial institution following that.
Deutsche Financial institution very last week agreed to settle a Manhattan federal court docket lawsuit submitted by a different Epstein accuser who alleged that financial institution enabled and benefited from his sexual intercourse trafficking. Deutsche Financial institution will pay back Epstein victims $75 million in that deal.
Deutsche Financial institution in 2020 agreed to pay out a $150 million fine to New York’s economic regulator for its dealings with Epstein and other challenges.
“We acknowledge our error onboarding Epstein in 2013, and the weaknesses in our procedures, and have learnt from our mistakes and our shortcomings,” financial institution spokesman Dylan Riddle mentioned last week.
— CNBC’s Eamon Javers contributed to this report.
Correction: Some former headlines for this story have been updated to reflect the right spelling of Jeffrey Epstein’s name.
