Bank of America Corp. agreed to pay $72.5 million to settle a lawsuit on behalf of Jeffrey Epstein victims claiming the bank aided in the late financier's sex-trafficking. The parties on Friday presented details of the previously announced settlement to US District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan. Rakoff, who must approve the deal, put the case on hold on March 16, disclosing only that the parties had reached a “settlement in principle.”
Bank of America doesn't admit wrongdoing in the agreement.
“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,” bank spokesman Bill Halldin said in an emailed statement.
Bank of America's proposed settlement is lower than the the $290 million that JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to pay Epstein victims in 2023. While the case against JPMorgan focused on the bank's client relationship with Epstein, the one against Bank of America mainly alleged that it was used by “his co-conspirators, associates and victims.”
“I believe the settlement agreement was the highest number that the plaintiffs could have achieved at the time of resolution,” Layn Phillips, a former federal judge who acted as a mediator in the settlement, said in a court filing supporting the deal.
The money is to be paid to a class of all women who were sexually abused or trafficked by Epstein or his associates between June 30, 2008 and July 6, 2019.
According to the suit, Apollo Global Management Inc. co-founder Leon Black used Bank of America accounts to transfer $170 million to Epstein. Lawyers for the victims alleged those transfers were “the primary means by which the sex-trafficking venture was funded and for which there was no apparent business or lawful purpose.”
Black has consistently denied wrongdoing and was not named as a defendant in the case. The settlement agreement allowed Black to avoid sitting for an eight-hour deposition in the case on March 26. A spokesman for Black declined to comment on the Bank of America settlement.
According to the suit, Epstein's former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell used accounts at Bank of America. Maxwell was convicted of sex-trafficking in 2021 and is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.
The suit accused Bank of America of actively concealing “details and evidence concerning its assisting and facilitating Epstein's sex trafficking.”
In addition to Bank of America and JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank AG also agreed to settle Epstein-related claims. The German bank reached a $75 million deal in 2023.
The case is Doe v. Bank of America, 25-cv-08520, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.