The second largest US bank, Bank of America (BoA), has agreed to $72.5 million to victims of convicted sex offender and deceased American financier Jeffrey Epstein to settle a class action lawsuit, according to a publicly accessible New York federal court filing.
The development announced Friday followed suit other leading banks, JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, that have previously agreed to millions-worth payouts to settle similar lawsuits. Survivors of Epstein’s abuse accused these banks of facilitating and enabling the convicted pedophile’s “sex trafficking venture” and benefiting from the transactions that took place while the financier was still their customer.
Bank of America vs Epstein victims lawsuit
While such settlements are typically approved, US District Court in Manhattan Judge Jed Rakoff has yet to grant it. A court hearing has been scheduled for Thursday to consider the approval.
According to the filing, it would pay “all women who were sexually abused or trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein, or by any person who is connected to or otherwise associated with Jeffrey Epstein or any Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking venture, between June 30, 2008 and July 6, 2019, inclusive.”
The filing also noted that lawyers are “aware that there are at least 60 women who were victimized by Epstein between” the mentioned dates. The lawsuit was filed in US District Court in Manhattan in October by a woman using the pseudonym Jane Doe. She accused BoA of ignoring suspicious transactions tied to Epstein despite the publicly revealed information about his crimes. As a result, Doe alleged that the second largest bank in the country valued profit over protecting victims.
Among the transactions flagged by Doe were payments to Epstein by Apollo Global Management’s billionaire co-founder, Leon Black, who stepped down from the CEO post in 2021. His departure was linked to a review by an outside law firm that found he had paid the sex offender $158 million for tax and estate planning. Denying wrongdoing, Black said he had no knowledge of Epstein’s criminal conduct.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers may seek up to 30% of the tentative settlement (about $21.8 million) for legal fees, as per court records.
The tentative BoA settlement comes a month after Deutsche Bank agreed to pay victims $75 million. Similarly, JPMorgan Chase in June 2023 decided to pay Epstein survivors $290 million to settle a suit. Thereafter, in August 2023, JPMorgan also agreed to pay the US Virgin Islands government $75 million. Epstein owned a private island in the US Virgin Islands.
Bank of America issues statement
Despite agreeing to settle, BoA has not admitted to any wrongdoing in connection with the notorious Epstein scandal.
As quoted by CNBC, a Bank of America spokesperson said, “While we stand by our prior statements made in the filings in this case, including that Bank of America did not facilitate sex trafficking crimes, this resolution allows us to put this matter behind us and provides further closure for the plaintiffs.”