Ex-Barclays boss accused of holding discussions with Jeffrey Epstein about photos of young women

theguardian.com:

Jes Staley, the former boss of Barclays, has been accused of holding discussions with the late billionaire and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein about photographs of young women in sexually suggestive poses.

Staley, 66, is accused in a US lawsuit of exchanging more than 1,200 emails with Epstein, including messages about “women who they referred to by the names of Disney princesses that Epstein [allegedly] procured for Staley”. It is also claimed that Epstein “emailed Staley photos of young women in seductive poses”.

The allegations, which Staley denies, are included in fresh court documents filed in the US Virgin Islands’ (USVI) lawsuit against Staley’s former employer the US investment bank JPMorgan Chase. Staley is not a party to the lawsuit.

The USVI lawsuit accusesJPMorgan of helping Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking of women and girls. As part of that claim, it alleges that Staley continued to communicate with Epstein even after the financier had been charged with soliciting a minor for prostitution and was sentenced to house arrest in 2008.

The lawsuit claims that: “In July 2010, Staley sent an email to Epstein, saying: ‘Maybe they’re tracking u? That was fun. Say hi to Snow White.’ Epstein responded: ‘[W]hat character would you like next?’ When Staley said ‘Beauty and the Beast’, Epstein replied: ‘well one side is available’.”

The USVI lawsuit also claimed that Staley appeared to have visited Epstein at his home in Palm Beach, Florida. “On 8 January 2009 – around the time of Staley’s scheduled visit to Palm Beach – Epstein wired $2,000 from his JPMorgan account to a woman with an eastern European surname,” the lawsuit alleges.

In August 2009, Staley is said to have told Epstein that he was coming to the UK.