Epstein Victims Sue FBI For Failing To Stop His Sex-Trafficking
A group of Jeffrey Epstein victims sued the Federal Bureau of Investigation for failing to stop his sex-trafficking despite receiving reports as early as the 1990s.
(Bloomberg) -- A group of Jeffrey Epstein victims sued the Federal Bureau of Investigation for failing to stop his sex-trafficking despite receiving reports as early as the 1990s.
In a suit filed Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, a dozen Jane Doe plaintiffs accused the FBI of negligence. The women said they wouldn’t have become victims of Epstein if the bureau had properly investigated him.
The FBI “failed to take appropriate action and botched and covered up investigations for years,” in violation of its own rules, the women alleged. They are seeking court permission to proceed with their suit under pseudonyms to protect their safety and privacy.
The FBI didn’t immediately return an email seeking comment on the allegations.
According to the suit, the FBI “hung up” on one woman who contacted the bureau in 1996 to report that Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell had abused her. The bureau continued to get reports and complaints of sex crimes involving Epstein over the next decade before opening an investigation in 2006, only to close it two years later, the women claim.
The FBI also “missed reports of bank involvement and government elites as co-conspirators,” the suit alleges.
Federal prosecutors in New York charged Epstein with sex trafficking in July 2019, but he died by suicide in his prison cell before he could stand trial. Maxwell was convicted of sex-trafficking in 2021 and is serving a 20-year sentence.
JPMorgan Chase & Co., where Epstein was a private-banking client from the late 1990s until 2013, last year agreed to pay $365 million to settle two lawsuits claiming it financially benefited from Epstein’s sex trafficking and failed to act on red flags.
Ties to Epstein have ended the careers of former Barclays Plc Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley and Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black. Others who knew Epstein, including Prince Andrew, Bill Gates and Leslie Wexner, have seen their reputations tarnished. All have denied knowing about or participating in inappropriate conduct with Epstein.
Read more: Who Was Jeffrey Epstein, and Who Was Linked to Him?: QuickTake
The case is Doe v. US, 24-cv-01071, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
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