Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) called on U.S. authorities Tuesday to investigate three banks and several senior bankers involved in the processing of hundreds of millions of dollars of transactions for now-deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
In a 67-page report, Ron Wyden (D-OR), the Senate Finance Committee’s ranking member, wrote that internal banking documents and records from the Treasury Department indicate that “top executives at major Wall Street banks knew of Epstein’s suspicious financial activity for years but withheld that information from the U.S. government.”
Bank of America, or BoA, JPMorgan Chase & Co., or JPMC, and Deutsche Bank “likely” violated federal anti-money laundering requirements prior to severing ties with the late financier, Wyden alleged, including by not requesting records that purportedly would have verified the purported reasons for his transactions.
“By failing to report—or choosing not to report—his suspicious financial transactions to federal law enforcement, these banks allowed Epstein to send cash payments and wire transfers to his victims, friends and collaborators,” Wyden alleged. “The bankers who needed to be asking questions didn’t ask them.”
Deutsche Bank disregarded withdrawals of massive quantities of cash from Epstein’s accounts, possibly to protect the institution’s relationship with a highly lucrative client, Wyden claimed in Tuesday’s report.
BoA allegedly failed to screen $170 million in payments that billionaire Leon Black sent to Epstein.
Top executives at JPMC meanwhile not only advised Epstein how to “conceal information from compliance … and … regulators” by using shell company accounts instead of personal accounts, but also knew of the “pervasive presence of young women or underage girls” at his residences.
“These investigations should include an examination of the conduct of individual bankers involved in the handling of transactions through Epstein’s accounts,” Wyden wrote in the report, which lists 13 executives that allegedly merit federal scrutiny.
The allegedly culpable executives who, according to Wyden, merit investigation include Paul Morris, Mary Erdoes, Jes Staley, Stephen Cutler, John Duffy, Justin Nelson, Paul Barrett, Mary Casey, David Brigstocke, Jeff Matusow, Jane Heller, Karen Weiss and Stewart Oldfield.Â
Moneylaundering.com may update this story as more information becomes available.
