This Swiss Bank moved $19 mn for Ghislaine Maxwell after Epstein's 2019 arrest: Here's what the new files revealed?

UBS managed up to $19 million for Ghislaine Maxwell after Epstein split with JPMorgan

Swiss banking giant UBS opened and managed accounts for Ghislaine Maxwell beginning in 2014, months after JPMorgan Chase ended its relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, and helped her oversee assets worth up to $19 million in the years before her sex-trafficking conviction, newly released documents show.

The records, part of a cache made public by the US Justice Department last month, shed new light on the extent of UBS’s financial dealings with Maxwell, who was arrested in 2020 and convicted in 2021 for her role in assisting Epstein’s sexual abuse of underage girls. She is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence at a federal prison camp in Texas.

Emails and bank statements show UBS opened both personal and business accounts for Maxwell, holding cash, shares and hedge fund investments. The Swiss lender assigned her two relationship managers who helped move millions of dollars and provided services typically reserved for high-net-worth clients.

In 2014, after JPMorgan closed Epstein’s accounts, UBS also issued him a credit card, according to an internal email. Epstein had pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl. That account was closed later in September 2014, with Epstein’s accountant telling him the decision was due to “reputational risk,” the documents show.

Despite widespread media reporting on Maxwell’s close association with Epstein, UBS continued banking her. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by UBS or its advisers. Some documents indicate the bank conducted due diligence before transferring Maxwell’s accounts from JPMorgan, though the scope of that review remains unclear.

UBS declined to comment on the findings, including why it took on Maxwell as a client after another major bank had deemed her high risk. A lawyer for Maxwell did not respond to a request for comment.

Court filings show JPMorgan had internally flagged Maxwell as a “High Risk Client” in 2011 due to her links to Epstein. In 2013, the bank decided to close Epstein’s accounts, noting that “felons [like Epstein] are considered high risk and require additional approval.” JPMorgan later settled a lawsuit with the US Virgin Islands for $75 million in 2023 while denying knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.

Emails show Maxwell was introduced to UBS in December 2013 by David Wassong, then a partner at Soros Private Equity Partners. “I have cced one of my best friends named Ghislaine maxwell (sic). She is looking for a new wealth manager, and I told her she had to meet you,” Wassong wrote.

By early 2014, UBS had opened accounts that Maxwell used for personal expenses, charities and multiple business entities. As of February that year, one account held nearly $2 million. Records also show UBS processed transactions for Maxwell even after Epstein’s arrest in July 2019.

UBS received a grand jury subpoena related to Maxwell in August 2019 and later provided information on wire transfers to the FBI. It remains unclear when, or if, the bank ultimately closed her accounts.

Separately, the latest document release has also detailed Maxwell’s central role in Epstein’s trafficking operation, describing her as a “master manipulator” who groomed victims and maintained control through psychological coercion, findings that further underscore the scrutiny surrounding institutions that continued to engage with her financially.