Former
Barclays Plc Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley has long maintained that he cut off his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein once he became boss of the UK bank. Legal documents seen by Bloomberg News claim that he had indirect contact with the late pedophile financier for years after that.
Staley and Epstein used an intermediary to stay in touch, according to documents that formed part of a
now-settled US Virgin Islands lawsuit against Staley’s former employer, JPMorgan Chase & Co. The filings contradict what the executive told the Barclays board about the pair’s relationship, as well as a UK regulatory probe that found no evidence of contact after October 2015.
The documents suggest the extent to which Epstein and Staley sought to hide their relationship when Staley was made CEO of Barclays. Staley, 67, left the British bank in 2021 over the scandal and was later
banned from the UK finance industry for having “recklessly misled” the regulator by allowing the bank’s board to downplay his interactions with Epstein. He is appealing the findings.
Representatives for Staley and JPMorgan didn’t respond to requests for comment. Spokespeople for Barclays and the FCA declined to comment…
In the first partially redacted email — sent about a year after Staley joined Barclays — Epstein wrote to the intermediary in an apparent attempt to discuss the appointment of the Treasury Secretary in Donald Trump’s incoming administration.
“Could you ask [REDACTED] if he would like to considered for treasury [sic],” Epstein wrote on Sunday November 27, 2016, weeks after Trump’s shock victory over Hillary Clinton in the presidential election.
“Will do. He’s on a plane to London right now but I’ll reach him after,” came the reply, according to a document intended to be shown to Staley in his June 2023 deposition. The intermediary later added: “Spoke with him. He said not yet, but thanks.”
The redactions mean it isn’t clear who Epstein is asking about with regard to the Treasury role.
Former Barclays Plc Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley has long maintained that he cut off his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein once he became boss of the UK bank. Legal documents seen by Bloomberg News claim that he had indirect contact with the late pedophile financier for years after that.
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