Staley calls Epstein's allegations 'baseless'

Jess Staley had a personal relationship with Jeffrey Epstein when he was a bank customer visiting a late pedophile in his Caribbean island Credit : Francesca Volpi/Bloomberg

Former Barclays chief executive Jes Staley called allegations of his relationship with the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein «defamatory and baseless.»

The comments were included in Mr. Staley's first lawsuit since his JP Morgan's former employer filed a lawsuit against him last month.

A Wall Street lender is trying to apprehend Mr. Staley, the former head of private bank JP Morgan. , is personally responsible for any penalties he may face for allegations that it contributed to Epstein's sex exploitation crimes.

Mr. Staley had a personal relationship with Epstein when he was a bank client , and visited a late pedophile in his Caribbean. island.

JP Morgan is facing two separate civil lawsuits alleging the bank facilitated Epstein's abuses. The cases cited Mr. Staley's communication with Epstein as evidence that the bank must have known of their relationship. Mr. Staley is not the defendant in any of the lawsuits.

JP Morgan requested that Mr. Staley return all compensation he received between 2006 and 2013. This amount is over $80 million (£64.31 million). .

The Bank argued that Mr. Staley, who later became the chief executive of Barclays, should be held liable for damages if he ended up losing these cases.

However, in the letter , filed Thursday in a Manhattan court, Mr. Staley asked that JP Morgan's lawsuit against him be separated from other civil lawsuits.

Commenting on the request, a JP Morgan spokesman said: “He is inextricably linked to these cases. — there is no point in separating him.”

Mr. Staley also requested that his October trial be postponed until March 2024.

He said the current schedule allows him to “ there is absolutely not enough time» to defend against false accusations from the bank.