A federal judge denied a request by the US Virgin Islands to block JPMorgan Chase & Co. from arguing that the territory has “unclean hands” in suing the bank for allegedly benefiting from Jeffrey Epstein’s sex crimes because it also failed to act against him.
The USVI had argued that JPMorgan was seeking “to shift fault to the government for alleged failure to prevent Epstein’s and JPMorgan’s own trafficking-related activity.” The territory contended a state entity can’t be held liable for failing to protect a specific individual rather than the general public.
In a ruling Thursday, US District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan said he would not strike the unclean hands argument and other defenses for now. But Rakoff said he’s “skeptical” they will withstand a challenge by the territory later in the case, “let alone prevail at trial.”
Read More: USVI Seeks to Bar JPMorgan’s ‘Unclean Hands’ Epstein Defense
