Epstein's ties to JPMorgan could lead to a bigger lawsuit.

US Virgin Islands said that Epstein's behavior at the bank was "so well known" that executives made jokes about it.

The US Virgin Islands want to add a new charge of obstruction and a claim that bank executives joked about the late financier Jeffrey Epstein to their lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase & Co. They say that the bank helped Epstein get girls and young women to have sex with him.

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In a court filing on Monday, the territory said that Epstein's behavior at JPMorgan, where he was a client from 2000 to 2013, was "so well known" that senior executives "joked about Epstein's interest in young girls."

The obstruction charge is about how JPMorgan is said to have tried to stop a US anti-trafficking law from being enforced by helping Epstein and his associates make large cash withdrawals with the "intent" of helping Epstein avoid criminal charges.

The territory said that Epstein's former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell was one of the people who got money from him. From 1999 to 2002, she got more than $23 million.

Reuters asked JPMorgan for a comment after the market closed, but they didn't answer right away.

US District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan needs to give the US Virgin Islands permission to change their complaint.

It is suing Epstein for sexually abusing young girls and women on Little Saint James, a private island he owned. The amount of money it wants is not clear.

The proposed complaint heavily redacts Mary Erdoes' recent deposition as head of asset and wealth management at JPMorgan.

In May, Jamie Dimon is likely to lose his job as CEO. No wrongdoing has been said about either Dimon or Erdoes.

JPMorgan is also suing Jes Staley, who was its former head of private banking and later the CEO of Barclays PLC, for hiding what he knew about Epstein.

On March 20, Rakoff denied JPMorgan's request to throw out lawsuits from the US Virgin Islands and Epstein's accusers.

He also wouldn't let Epstein's accusers drop their case against Deutsche Bank AG, where Epstein worked from 2013 to 2018.

Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 when he was 66 years old. He was waiting to be tried for sex trafficking.

Maxwell is trying to get out of her conviction and 20-year prison sentence for helping Epstein do bad things.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES