Newly released U.S. Justice Department emails and documents offer a deeper look at Jeffrey Epstein’s unusual relationship with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Deutsche Bank AG, reports by Bloomberg and the Financial Times show. 

Despite JPMorgan’s attempt to end its relationship with Epstein in 2013, he remained connected to the bank for years, Bloomberg said. In February 2019, about six months before Epstein died in jail, he used one of his trusts that had been pushed out of JPMorgan to wire $150,000 into a brokerage account at the bank held by his girlfriend, Karyna Shuliak. 

The transfer became the bulk of the funding in that account and is one example of “myriad ways” Epstein stayed in JPMorgan’s orbit after being dropped as a client, according to the report. 

Multiple JPMorgan executives stayed in contact with Epstein after he moved his accounts to Deutsche Bank, sometimes including him in discussions connected to other clients, including private equity titan Leon Black, the news agency said. Shuliak remained a JPMorgan client until at least 2019. 

Justice Department documents also describe an undated suspicious activity report (SAR) referencing more than $1 billion in transactions involving Epstein and other “current, former and non-JPMC customers.” The SAR covered wire activity from October 2003 through July 2019 and listed people and entities including Black and Shuliak, Bloomberg noted. 

The report also details how JPMorgan personnel continued interacting with Epstein and his representatives even after the 2013 offboarding. It cites a 2016 exchange in which Epstein’s accountant, Richard Kahn, sought feedback from JPMorgan investment strategist Paul Barrett on a portfolio of more than two dozen investments. 

Barrett added Epstein to message chains involving business partners and met with him at Epstein’s Manhattan home, and Epstein remained involved in investment decisions for associates’ accounts, including Black’s and music executive Tommy Mottola’s, Bloomberg said.

In 2015, Barrett’s nephew stayed in one of Epstein’s apartments, and Epstein wrote that “there is little I will not do for either you or your family,” according to the report. 

New reporting by the Financial Times focuses on Deutsche Bank’s pursuit and management of Epstein’s finances after JPMorgan cut him off, and how internal controls repeatedly collided with business priorities. 

Epstein moved hundreds of millions of dollars to Deutsche after being dropped by JPMorgan in 2013, and the German lender frequently allowed him to send money overseas to cover young women’s expenses, later telling prosecutors he sent roughly $875,000 to “ostensible foreign models” during nearly six years at the bank, the FT said. 

According to the report, Deutsche’s wealth-management expansion push drew it to JPMorgan private banker Paul Morris, who brought Epstein into Deutsche’s sights. In May 2013, Deutsche’s U.S. wealth management head Chip Packard wrote that a top lawyer and a senior U.S. AML figure suggested reputational risk committee vetting was unnecessary, so long as nothing further emerged through KYC and AML client adoption. 

In October 2013, after $180 million arrived into Deutsche accounts, Packard wrote to Morris, “Congrats on getting Epstein funded!” the FT said. 

Deutsche bankers ultimately sought to leverage Epstein’s network to win other wealthy clients, highlighting internal references to Leon Black and other prospects, the newspaper said. The strategy was pursued despite compliance alerts tied to Epstein’s web of trusts and associates, including red flags involving Ghislaine Maxwell and then-Prince Andrew.

The bank placed Epstein in its “Key Client Partners” program for clients worth more than $100 million and expected significant trading revenues, while internal profiles called him both highly sophisticated and highly challenging. 

After Morris left in 2016, Deutsche in early 2017 stopped allowing Epstein to trade sophisticated products, but later re-established trading lines after Epstein hired Paul Barrett, another former JPMorgan banker, as his in-house trader, according to the report. 

Read more at Bloomberg

Read more at the Financial Times