Judge denies former JPMorgan Chase exec's motion to dismiss Epstein liability case

May 24 (UPI) -- Former JPMorgan Chase executive Jes Staley can still be held liable in a sex trafficking complaint revolving around the investment bank's former customer Jeffrey Epstein, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

Senior U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff denied a motion filed by Staley's legal team looking to dismiss the complaint filed by the bank, attempting to hold him financially responsible in the Epstein case.

The late billionaire was arrested on sex trafficking charges and died by suicide in 2019 while in a federal detention center in New York City awaiting trial.

Rakoff did not give written reasons for his ruling Wednesday, but said they would be forthcoming.

Epstein was a customer of the New York City investment bank from 1998 through 2013.

Rakoff in March ruled both JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank can be sued for profiting from Epstein's sex-trafficking scheme.

Last week, Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $75 million to Epstein's alleged victims. A federal lawsuit accused the bank of enabling and benefitted from the billionaire's trafficking of underage girls.

Wednesday's ruling comes two days before JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is scheduled to answer deposition questions related to a lawsuit filed in December by the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands and an unnamed Epstein accuser.

After that suit was filed, JPMorgan Chase in March launched a third-party complaint against Staley, who had been Epstein's main point of contact while he was a customer at the bank.

Staley in 2021 resigned from his position at British universal bank Barclays when rumors first circulated about his ties to Epstein. He has denied any knowledge of Epstein's sex trafficking activities.