Judge rules banks can be sued for profiting from Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking scheme

March 20 (UPI) -- A Manhattan district judge ruled Monday that JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank can be sued for profiting from Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking scheme.

Judge Jed Rakoff said that victims of Epstein and the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands can sue the international banking company JPMorgan Chase because it knowingly profited and participated in Epstein's crimes, CNBC reports.

Rakoff reportedly reached the decision after JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank sought to have three lawsuits dismissed. While Rakoff agreed to dismiss some charges, he determined that other charges will stand and each lawsuit can move forward.

"As we have alleged, Epstein's sex trafficking operation was impossible without the assistance of JPMorgan Chase, and later Deutsche Bank, and we assure the public that we will leave no stone unturned in our quest for justice for the many victims who deserved better from one of America's largest financial institutions," Attorney Bradley Edwards said, according to Law & Crime.

Epstein, the late billionaire who was arrested on sex trafficking charges, died by suicide while in federal prison. In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting an underage prostitute in Florida. According to CNBC, he was a JPMorgan client from 1998 to 2013, five years after Epstein's guilty plea. Deutsche Bank then took Epstein on as a client in 2013. He remained with the bank as even more allegations of sex trafficking came to light.

Rakoff will not only allow the lawsuits to move forward on grounds of JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche profiting from Epstein's activities. Prosecutors may also attempt to prove that the banks participated in helping Epstein evade law enforcement, Law & Crime says. The banks are accused of turning a blind eye to Epstein's activities and obstructed enforcement of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.