NEW YORK (Bloomberg) - JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPMC) sought to protect only its own investments even as it suspected Bernard Madoff of perpetrating a fraud, said the trustee liquidating the convicted conman’s financial-advisory firm.JPMorgan had a “decades-long role” as Madoff’s primary banker “aiding and abetting” the fraud, according to a statement on Wednesday by trustee Irving Picard. The lawsuit against JPMorgan, filed last year, seeks to recover almost $1 billion in profits and $5.4 billion in damages.The complaint includes internal e-mails at the bank and details supporting allegations that JPMorgan “knew or should have known” that Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities LLC, or BLMIS, was likely engaging in fraud, Picard said.Madoff, 72, pleaded guilty in March 2009 to charges that his wealth-management business was a massive Ponzi scheme, after being arrested in December 2008. He is serving a 150-year sentence at a federal prison in North Carolina. Statements for Madoff customers in November 2008 falsely indicated they had almost $65 billion in total investments.“Incredibly, the bank’s top executives were warned in blunt terms about speculation that Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme, yet the bank appears to have been concerned only with protecting its own investments in BLMIS feeder funds,” said Deborah Renner, an attorney for Picard, in a statement.JPMorgan, based in New York, earned at least $500 million in fees and profits “off the backs” of Madoff’s victims, according to the complaint.“As we allege in the complaint, JPMC had a palpable concern that Madoff was a fraud for years, but it was not until October 2008 that it reported Madoff to government officials,” Renner said. “Even then, JPMC executives did not restrict the BLMIS bank account, even though it was being used to launder money from the Ponzi scheme.”JPMorgan “ignored its anti-money laundering obligations and repeatedly allowed suspicious transactions for high dollar amounts to occur in the BLMIS account,” David Sheehan, another lawyer for Picard, said in the statement.“The complaint further alleges that, as the BLMIS banker, JPMC had financial reports in its possession that clearly evidenced fraud,” Sheehan said. “The same reports led a prominent fund manager to conclude that fraudulent activity was highly likely.”All funds recovered by Picard will be distributed to Madoff customers who have valid claims, the trustee said. Investors lost almost $17.1 billion in principal by the time the Ponzi scheme was exposed, according to the complaint.Jennifer Zuccarelli, a spokeswoman for JPMorgan, said the bank will fight the lawsuit. It was initially filed under seal on December 2 in US Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.