In April 2002, JPMorgan Chase raised a red flag about Jeffrey Epstein.
The bank had noticed his accounts were cashing an unusual number of checks, many for $9,500 or $9,800—just under the $10,000 limit that draws increased attention.
JPMorgan filed what’s known as a suspicious activity report, or SAR, to federal law enforcement because of a clear pattern of transactions typically meant to evade authorities.
The bank would file another report in December 2002 and another in April 2003. The flags were raised well before any public knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and associations with girls and young women, but had little impact on his activities.
Epstein would be arrested in Florida three years later, plead guilty in 2008, and then continue his extravagant lifestyle until 2019. He would remain a JPMorgan client until 2013, meeting with top executives from the bank and connecting them with his wealthy associates, including Leon Black and Bill Gates.
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The red flags were raised internally at the bank throughout its relationship with Epstein, who had dozens of accounts and moved millions of dollars. At one point, Epstein and his associates told JPMorgan staff the cash was needed to pay for fuel for his private jet, but some JPMorgan staffers were skeptical especially after media coverage of Epstein’s 2006 arrest in Florida showed he was paying for sex with minors.
In 2008, the bank filed another SAR on Epstein, citing the prosecution and flagging $800,000 in withdrawals in 2007 and 2008.
In an email exchange in 2013, JPMorgan staffers discussed whether they should include concerns in a SAR about Epstein potentially using the cash to pay for sex, not just for jet fuel. The bank did file a SAR raising concerns about the fuel story, showing one Epstein account took out more than $200,000 in cash in 2011 and $290,000 in 2012.
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Quite a different focus compared to the OP article.
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