The one bank that stood up to Epstein over ‘suspicious activity’ before his sex trafficker arrest
Someone largest banks in the world “suspicious activity” detected Jeffrey Epstein’s account He took decisive action nearly 20 years ago, according to a new report.
in 2007 HSBC branch in Paris He informed Epstein that he was terminating the business relationship following the evidence. money laundering and other abuses It came to light according to Bloomberg.
This is notable as it is the only known instance of a major financial institution cutting ties with a disgraced financier before 2008. Found guilty of procuring minors For prostitution charges in Florida.
The previously unreported termination comes as public scrutiny of Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial, has reached new heights.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed the agreement. Epstein Files Transparency ActHe demands that the Department of Justice release its files on the late sex offender. He also directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Epstein’s relationship with former President Bill Clinton and other prominent figures.
In early November, a House committee released a trove of documents. 20,000 documents from Epstein’s private estateThey included several emails from Epstein, who claimed Trump “knew girls” and “spent hours” with one victim.
The Republican president, who socialized with Epstein, has consistently maintained he did nothing wrong and called the charges against him a “hoax” perpetuated by Democrats.
A European branch of HSBC closed its account with Jeffrey Epstein in 2007 after it was flagged for ‘suspicious activity’, according to a new report. (Getty)
‘Suspicious activity’
A few days before Christmas in 2007, the Paris branch of HSBC, where Epstein owned a sumptuous apartment, sent him a letter.
In the English translation of the document, it was stated: “Subject to the one-month notice period, which is the expiry of our banking agreement, we hereby inform you that we do not intend to continue our relationship and do not wish to inform you on this day.”
“As a result, after this period has expired, you must return any unused checks you have and provide us with your new bank references,” the letter said. Bloomberg It persisted as part of a cache of Epstein’s personal emails.
The letter did not specify the reason for the sudden action. But two unnamed people with knowledge of the matter said the news came after compliance staff noticed suspicious activity.
In particular, they became concerned about financial transactions involving young women connected to a French modeling agency he owned. Jean-Luc Brunel. Brunel, a longtime friend of Epstein, died in prison in 2022.
Compliance workers also observed that Epstein’s account “contained numerous round-dollar deposits” and that the withdrawals “bear signs of money laundering and other financial misconduct.”
A few weeks later, Epstein’s personal attorney, Darren Indyke, notified the late sex offender of the bank’s decision. He wrote in an email that Epstein’s legal representative in France had asked for an explanation from the HSBC branch.
The representative “asked if there was anything the bank didn’t like about the Arab/Jewish issue or Epstein,” Indyke wrote, adding that after that “the bank representative became angry…”
There is no record of a response from Epstein. Bloomberg reported. The outlet noted that Epstein had at least one other account with HSBC in Switzerland.
An apartment building owned by Jeffrey Epstein in the 16th arrondissement of Paris (AFP via Getty Images)
An HSBC office in Paris in 2018 (AFP via Getty Images)
This statement comes after major banks linked to Epstein came under scrutiny by Congress.
This week Democratic Senator Ron Wyden published a note It accuses JP Morgan Chase of underreporting suspicious activity linked to Epstein’s accounts over a nearly 20-year period.
The statement said JP Morgan filed suspicious activity reports covering $4.3 million in transactions made by the disgraced financier known as SARS from 2002 to 2016. But following Epstein’s death in 2019, it filed reports stating $1.3 billion in transactions were suspicious.
“In other words, the cumulative dollar value of the suspicious transactions the bank reported after Epstein’s death in federal custody was nearly 300 times greater than the value of the transactions the bank flagged while he was alive and actively trafficking women and girls,” Wyden said.
JP Morgan spokeswoman Patricia Wexler said the following when asked about Wyden’s memo: Independent“We acted appropriately in filing a SAR as early as 2002. When the government finally made sex trafficking details public in 2019 — information they had clearly had for years — we identified for law enforcement a number of Epstein’s past transactions intended to assist the investigation.”
In 2023, JP Morgan reached a $75 million settlement over a lawsuit alleging the bank facilitated Epstein’s sex trafficking crimes.
A spokesman for HSBC declined to comment when contacted.Independent.
