Women who accused convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein of sexual abuse have filed two separate lawsuits against JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Deutsche Bank AG, alleging that the banks facilitated his sex trafficking operation by maintaining a financial relationship with Epstein and ignoring red flags.
The two lawsuits, filed in federal court in New York on Nov. 24, were brought by lawyers that have previously represented accusers of Epstein, who died in a prison cell awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
The unnamed plaintiffs accuse the banks of “providing the requisite financial support for the continued operation of Epstein’s international sex trafficking organization” in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), a U.S. law used to target illegal conspiracies that originally was designed to target organized crime….