Russian Court Seizes Funds Of JP Morgan Two Years After Bank Made $290 Million Settlement With Epstein Accusers

A Russian court has seized funds from JPMorgan Chase on Wednesday.

The court ruling comes as Russian state-owned bank VTB filed a lawsuit against JP Morgan to regain its funds that were blocked abroad due to sanctions.

Last week, JP Morgan sued VTB in New York to stop VTB’s efforts to withdraw $439 million from an account that has been frozen since Russia invaded Ukraine.

JP Morgan has not commented on Russia’s latest move.

The move by Russia comes two years after JPMorgan Chase settled a $290 million settlement with several women who claimed  Jeffrey Epstein abused them due to the bank turning their head from Epstein’s crimes.

JUST IN: 🇷🇺 Russia to seize $440 million from JPMorgan.

This comes after the United States passed a bill to transfer seized Russian assets to Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/0yfPQ0Rz3r

— BRICS News (@BRICSinfo) April 24, 2024

Reuters broke the story:

A Russian court has ordered the seizure of funds in JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), bank accounts in Russia, court filings showed on Wednesday, in a lawsuit filed by state-owned bank VTB (VTBR.MM), as it seeks to regain funds blocked abroad.

JP Morgan Chase last week sued VTB in New York to halt its efforts to recover $439.5 million from an account that was blocked after Russia despatched its army to Ukraine in 2022 and VTB was hit with sanctions.

JPMorgan Chase declined to comment on the Russian court’s interim measures. VTB did not immediately comment on Wednesday. It has previously declined to comment on its legal disputes with JPMorgan Chase.
The Arbitration Court of St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region’s ruling was dated April 22.

The court said it had ordered the seizure of all funds in JP Morgan bank accounts in Russia, including correspondent accounts and those opened in the name of a subsidiary. The court said it had not seized securities and property held by JP Morgan funds, or the jpmorgan.ru domain.

JUST IN: 🇷🇺 Russia to seize $440 million from JPMorgan in lawsuit filed by Russia’s second biggest bank. pic.twitter.com/5ysNhA7Agg

— Radar🚨 (@RadarHits) April 24, 2024

Here’s what Reuters reported on JP Morgan’s settlement with Epstein accusers:

A U.S. judge on Thursday approved JPMorgan Chase’s (JPM.N), $290 million settlement with women who said Jeffrey Epstein abused them, and that the largest U.S. bank turned a blind eye to the late financier’s sex trafficking.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff called the deal “a really excellent settlement” that he said could prevent future sex trafficking by alerting banks to the consequences of facilitating transactions linked to it.
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“This case sent a message through this very substantial settlement that banking institutions … have responsibilities that perhaps were not fully recognized in the past,” the judge said.

The deal followed embarrassing disclosures that JPMorgan ignored internal warnings and overlooked red flags about Epstein because he had been a valuable client.

Epstein was a JPMorgan client from 1998 to 2013. The bank kept him on even after he was arrested in 2006 on prostitution charges and pleaded guilty two years later.

BREAKING: 🇷🇺 Russia seizes $439.5 million from JPMorgan

In response to the US bill to transfer seized Russian assets to Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/FbOwEgMPPR

— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) April 24, 2024