JPMorgan Chase reaches $75 million tentative settlement with US Virgin Islands over Jeffrey Epstein

JPMorgan Chase reached a tentative $75 million settlement with the U.S. Virgin Islands on Tuesday over a lawsuit alleging that the financial institution facilitated deceased convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking activity.

A federal trial in Manhattan is scheduled in several weeks over the U.S. territory's claim that the bank enabled Epstein to commit crimes involving teenage girls and young women for more than a decade, "The New York Times" reported. 

The Virgin Islands sued JPMorgan in December for up to $190 million, arguing that the bank ignored warning signs about Epstein.

The settlement is expected to go toward lawyer fees and charitable causes in the U.S. territory, where Epstein had a private island residence for about two decades.

"JPMorgan Chase believes this settlement is in the best interest of all parties," the bank said, Bloomberg reported. "While the settlement does not involve admissions of liability, the firm deeply regrets any association with this man, and would never have continued doing business with him if it believed he was using the bank in any way to commit his heinous crimes."

The bank had already agreed in June to settle with nearly 200 of Epstein's victims for $290 million.

Also on Tuesday, JPMorgan reached an agreement with former executive Jes Staley, who the firm had sued for damages the institution incurred over his ties to Epstein.

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