Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, sent letters Thursday to JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, Bank of America, and Bank of New York Mellon seeking records tied to more than $1.5 billion in suspicious transactions connected to Jeffrey Epstein and his associates, according to House Judiciary Democrats.
Raskin asked the banks to provide documents, communications, and compliance records by Oct. 22. The request follows a September committee hearing in which Judiciary Republicans rejected Democrats’ effort to subpoena Epstein-related bank records and after the FBI acknowledged it had not fully “followed the money,” the press release said.
The letters list accusations against each bank based on previous reports and compliance filings. JPMorgan is said to have handled more than $1 billion in transactions for Epstein over the course of their 15-year association, even after he was found guilty in 2008. Raskin alleged that senior managers helped open 134 accounts and “turned a blind eye” to warning indicators.
Deutsche Bank, which took on Epstein as a client in 2013, is described as having processed payments to known victims and associates for six years while overlooking “a stream of red flags.” Compliance staff reportedly questioned transfers routed to women with Eastern European surnames and received explanations such as “tuition” or “rent,” which the letter characterizes as classic indicators of trafficking.
Bank of America is accused of filing only two Suspicious Activity Reports related to Epstein—both years late—covering about $170 million in transfers between Epstein and billionaire Leon Black. The bank processed those payments “without asking for information as to the nature of the transactions,” Raskin wrote.
Bank of New York Mellon reportedly filed SARs covering $378 million in Epstein-linked payments, but only years after Epstein’s death—well beyond statutory timelines—when intervention was no longer possible, the letter states.
Raskin based the question on the Bank Secrecy Act, which says that banks must file SARs within 60 days of seeing something that looks like illicit conduct. He said that if the institutions had acted quickly, they may have stopped Epstein’s operation sooner and possibly saved victims from harm.
Raskin used the JPMorgan letter to point out CEO Jamie Dimon’s past comments in which he said he was sorry for any connection to Epstein and asked for cooperation: making records to help Congress understand how the ring moved money through the financial system and to stop banks from letting similar schemes happen again.
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