Paul Barrett, Citi’s head of North American private capital, has left the bank, a spokesperson confirmed to several publications Tuesday.
Citi had opened an internal investigation last week after executives learned that Barrett had scheduled at least five meetings between 2014 and 2017 with now-late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, sources told the Financial Times.
Barrett, at the time, worked for JPMorgan Chase, where Epstein was a client until 2013.
“Until recently, Citi was unaware of Paul Barrett’s association with Jeffrey Epstein, which predated his employment at our firm,” Citi said in a statement to the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Reuters. “Mr. Barrett is no longer employed by Citi.”
Barrett’s departure came Monday, sources told the Financial Times. That’s three days after The Wall Street Journal published a story disclosing Barrett’s contact with Epstein.
Barrett had worked for Citi since 2019 and previously spent 18 years at JPMorgan, leaving as a managing director in 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Barrett did not respond to requests for comment on that platform, according to Bloomberg and the Financial Times.
JPMorgan is facing lawsuits from both the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein had a home, and from an alleged victim of a sex-trafficking operation reportedly tied to Epstein. Trial dates for both cases are set for October.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is set to be deposed over two days in May. The bank’s former private-banking chief, Jes Staley, had been scheduled for under-oath interviews in the case this month.
Mary Erdoes, CEO of JPMorgan’s asset and wealth management division, “admitted in her deposition that JPMorgan was aware by 2006 that Epstein was accused of paying cash to have underage girls and young women brought to his home,” according to a court filing this month.
Lawyers for the bank have described the claims as “meritless.” Deutsche Bank, which is also being sued by an alleged Epstein victim, called the allegations “manufactured.”
