UBS AG opened accounts for Ghislaine Maxwell in early 2014 and went on to manage as much as $19 million for her in the years before she was convicted for helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually traffic teenage girls, Reuters reported. 

Records released by the U.S. Justice Department show UBS moved money at Maxwell’s request shortly after Epstein’s July 2019 arrest and later received a grand jury subpoena seeking information about her banking activity, according to the news agency, which cited newly disclosed emails and bank statements.

UBS set up both personal and business accounts for Maxwell and held her cash, shares and hedge fund investments, Reuters said. The accounts were used for her personal expenses, her charity TerraMar Project, and entities identified in the documents as Ellmax, Pot & Kettle, Max Foundation and Max Hotel Services, according to the report. 

Her account opening with the Swiss lender came months after JPMorgan Chase ended its relationship with Epstein, Reuters reported. JPMorgan had long banked Epstein and Maxwell but began escalating internal concerns after Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea to charges of procuring a minor for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute. 

In 2011, during Know-Your-Customer checks, JPMorgan’s compliance team flagged Maxwell as a “High Risk Client” due to her ties to Epstein, according to the report. In 2013, JPMorgan decided to close Epstein’s account, and later settled litigation brought by the U.S. Virgin Islands for $75 million in 2023. 

A December 2013 email cited by Reuters shows that David Wassong, then a partner at Soros Private Equity Partners, introduced Maxwell to UBS. A February 2014 email published by the Justice Department with the names redacted shows the sender urging UBS to “expedite this transition from JPMorgan” on Maxwell’s behalf. 

While UBS initially provided Epstein with a credit card in 2014, the bank terminated its relationship with the financier by September of that year, Reuters said. UBS continued its relationship with Maxwell despite high-profile media reports citing her close relationship with Epstein. 

Read more at Reuters