Ranking Member Raskin Probes Top Banks Over $1.5 Billion in Suspicious Transactions Linked to Jeffrey Epstein Sex Trafficking Ring

Washington, D.C. (October 9, 2025)—Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, sent letters to four of the nation’s largest banks demanding records and information related to more than $1.5 billion in suspicious financial transactions flagged by the banks tied to sex trafficking crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and their co-conspirators. 

The letters to JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, Bank of America and Bank of New York Melloncome after Judiciary Republicans blocked Democrats’ attempts to subpoena these records on September 17 during the Committee’s hearing with Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel. When JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon heard of the efforts to seek documents from his bank, he stated that he “regret[s] any association with that man at all,” and that “what happened to those women is terrible.” These letters seek to take Mr. Dimon up on his words of contrition and ensure that JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, Bank of America, and Bank of New York Mellon help Congress understand how Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and their co-conspirators were able to use their banks to operate their international sex trafficking ring.

Under the Bank Secrecy Act, financial institutions are required to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) within 60 days of detecting transactions that raise red flags. Yet, all four banks with close financial ties to Jeffrey Epstein repeatedly failed to take timely action for years, potentially allowing his criminal activity to remain undetected. 

“Financial institutions are often the first line of defense in detecting serious federal crimes, especially the ones that involve significant flows of money like sex trafficking. Flagging and detecting Mr. Epstein’s suspicious withdrawals may well have stopped his crimes years earlier and saved countless girls and women from a fateful interaction with the criminals Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell and their co-conspirators. If you truly regret JPMorgan’s shameful association with Mr. Epstein, we trust that you will work with us to promptly produce these records and help us ensure that neither your bank nor any other American bank ever again enables and bankrolls a criminal sex trafficking ring like Epstein’s,” wrote Ranking Member Raskin in the letter to JPMorgan.

JP Morgan processed over one billion in suspicious transactions over the course of its fifteen year relationship with Mr. Epstein.

“For over fifteen years, JPMorgan turned a blind eye to evidence of Jeffrey Epstein’s child sex trafficking. Senior executives at your bank helped Mr. Epstein open 134 accounts and processed over one billion dollars in transactions for Mr. Epstein, including after his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors,” wrote Ranking Member Raskin in the letter to JPMorgan.

Deutsche Bank became Epstein’s primary bank in 2013, after his conviction for soliciting sex from a minor, and it processed transactions to known victims and co-conspirators for six years, failing to report a stream of red flags. 

“Deutsche Bank witnessed but failed to report a stream of red flags relating to Mr. Epstein, including his attorneys sending millions of dollars to women with Eastern European surnames. When Deutsche Bank compliance officers inquired as to the purpose of these transactions, Mr. Epstein and his lawyers gave farfetched answers that these transfers were for ‘tuition’ or ‘rent’ for Mr. Epstein’s ‘friends’—explicit red flags for sex trafficking that were never sufficiently questioned by Deutsche Bank,” wrote Ranking Member Raskin in the letter to Deutsche Bank. 

Bank of America handled hundreds of millions in Epstein’s funds but filed only two significantly delayed SARs relating to his conduct. 

“Despite the public nature of Mr. Epstein’s crimes, and the hundreds of millions of his funds following through your bank, it appears Bank of America filed only two significantly delayed SARs relating to his conduct—covering $170 million in transactions between Mr. Epstein and billionaire investor Leon Black. These SARs not only were untimely—filed years after the transactions in question—but Bank of America processed the payments ‘without asking for information as to the nature of the transactions,’” wrote Ranking Member Raskin in the letter to Bank of America.

Bank of New York Mellon filed SARs covering $378 million in Epstein-linked payments—but only years after his death.

“While reports indicate that you filed SARs covering $378 million in payments to and from Mr. Epstein’s accounts, these SARs were reportedly filed years after Mr. Epstein’s death, well beyond when was statutorily required, and when the opportunity to intervene and prevent his conduct had passed,” wrote Ranking Member Raskin in the letter to Bank of New York Mellon.

Ranking Member Raskin requested the banks provide the Committee with all documents, communications, and records related to their handling of Epstein’s suspicious transactions by October 22. 

Click here to read the letter to JPMorgan. 

Click here to read the letter to Deutsche Bank.

Click here to read the letter to Bank of America.

Click here to read the letter to Bank of New York Mellon.