JP Morgan-Jeffrey Epstein ties went through a Sergey Brin phase, court documents reveal

Disgraced late sex offender and American financier Jeffrey Epstein was guiding Google co-founder Sergey Brin in 2007 to establish a tax-saving trust for his children, recent court documentshave revealed.

Jeffrey Epstein-Sergey Brin ties: The nature and scope

Epstein, who allegedly committed suicide in prison while awaiting trial,reportedly facilitated Brin's connection with JPMorgan Chase bankers to create a Grantor-Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT), Wall Street Journal reported.

Epstein's similar work on a trust for private equity billionaire Leon Black has attracted scrutiny from Senate investigators, although Black has asserted his purportedadherence to the US tax obligations.

A grantor-retained annuity trustis a financial instrument commonly used in the United States to make large financial gifts to family members without paying a US gift tax.

When he passed away in 2019 while in custodyEpstein was awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.

How Epstein-Sergey Brin ties have surfaced

The revelations have surfaced within a civil suit filed by the US Virgin Islands against JPMorgan. The lawsuit has accused the bank of aiding Epstein.

The suit highlights the extent of Epstein's influence over the years, even after initial accusations in 2006 and his guilty plea in 2008.

Brin, one of several JPMorgan clients summonedby the US Virgin Islands, is reportedly implicated in the suit, which questions JPMorgan's acceptance of Epstein's referrals and negligence toward his actions.

The bank claims ignorance of Epstein's alleged clients and has expressed regret over its association with disgraced financier.

What else the court documents say

The court records reveal that the Google co-founder Brin became a JPMorgan client in 2004 on Epstein's recommendation, and went on toamass over $4 billion in accounts.

According to another email cited in the lawsuit, by January 2007, Epstein inquired about the purported tax-saving trust in a call to a JPMorgan banker while Brin was present.

Epstein was convicted in 2008 by a Florida state court of procuring a child for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute.

He served almost 13 months in custody. Later, the US federal officials identified 36 girls, some as young as 14-years-old, whom Epstein had allegedly sexually abused.

Also watch |JP Morgan and the Epstein connection

Epstein was arrested again in July, 2019, on federal charges for the sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York. He died in his jail cell in August 2019 by suicide.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE