Barclays subpoenaed by U.S. Virgin Islands over Epstein ties

[November 06, 2021]    NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Virgin Islands has asked British bank Barclays to hand over information related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the bank said on Friday.

 U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services' sex offender registry March 28, 2017 and obtained by Reuters July 10, 2019. New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

Barclays received a subpoena in the United States from the U.S. Virgin Islands in February, the bank confirmed.

"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.

Barclays said Monday that Chief Executive Jes Staley was leaving the bank after a dispute with British financial regulators over how he described his ties with Epstein.

Epstein's estate was sued last year by the U.S. Virgin Islands, which claimed that he raped and trafficked in dozens of young women and girls on a private island in U.S. Virgin Island territory.

(Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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