Last Updated on January 2, 2023
U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George was terminated on Saturday by Governor Albert Bryan after she filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan on Tuesday which asserted several counts of facilitation of human trafficking in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking network.
Gov. Bryan made a statement about the development on Monday. “I relieved Denise George of her duties as attorney general this weekend,” Gov. Bryan said. “I thank her for her service to the people of the territory during the past four years as attorney general and wish her the best in her future endeavors.”
“I am not at liberty to discuss details on personnel matters,” Gov. Bryan added.
According to persons “with knowledge” of the matter, Gov. Bryan had been frustrated with AG George for some time and that the “action against the bank was the final straw.”
The lawsuit demands a trial by jury and asserted that JP Morgan Chase Bank violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 1591 to 1595), the Virgin Islands Criminally Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (CICO) Act (14 V.I.C. §§ 600 to 614), the Virgin Islands Consumer Fraud and the Deceptive Business Practices Act (12A V.I.C. §§ 301 to 336).
“The investigation revealed that JP Morgan knowingly, negligently, and unlawfully provided and pulled the levers through which recruiters and victims were paid and was indispensable to the operation and concealment of the Epstein trafficking enterprise,” the lawsuit stated.
“JP Morgan turned a blind eye to evidence of human trafficking over more than a decade because of Epstein’s own financial footprint, and because of the deals and clients that Epstein brought and promised to the bank,” the lawsuit said.
“These decisions were advocated and approved at the senior levels of JP Morgan, including by the former chief executive of its asset management division and investment bank, whose inappropriate relationship with Epstein should have been evident to the bank. Indeed, it was only after Epstein’s death that JP Morgan belatedly complied with federal banking regulations regarding Epstein’s accounts,” the lawsuit stated.
The Chief Deputy Attorney General of the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice (DoJ), Carol Thomas-Jacobs, was tapped to be acting AG.
