Barclays Subpoenaed by U.S. Virgin Islands Over Epstein Link

(Bloomberg) -- Officials in the U.S. Virgin Islands are asking Barclays Plc to hand over information related to Jeffrey Epstein, the deceased financier and sex offender whose ties to Jes Staley led the latter to quit as chief executive officer of the bank this week. 

The British lender was served a subpoena in New York in February and officials are now requesting information from the bank in the U.K., a spokesman for Barclays said in an emailed response to questions. 

“Barclays has already provided its response to this subpoena and complied with its obligations. The USVI is now in the process of serving a similar subpoena on Barclays in the U.K. and Barclays will respond to that subpoena once it is served,” a spokesman for the lender said.

The U.S. territory plays a key part in the ongoing investigations into Epstein, who owned private islands that have been described as the home of a “trafficking pyramid scheme” in a lawsuit filed by the USVI government. Several prominent financiers have received subpoenas in recent years. Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges in the U.S. 

“The government can confirm its ongoing investigation but cannot provide comment beyond that,” a spokeswoman for the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice said.

Staley abruptly resigned on Monday after U.K. regulators told the bank their preliminary findings of a multiyear probe into the CEO’s account of his relationship with Epstein. He dealt with the financier for 15 years in his former role as head of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s private bank, and has always said that relationship ended before he started at Barclays in 2015.

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