Epstein victims receive $72.5 million in Bank of America settlement

bank of america The bank has agreed to pay $72.5 million to victims accused of aiding and abetting notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking, a New York federal court filing revealed Friday evening.

The settlement, in which BoA denied wrongdoing, is the fourth settlement by a major bank of legal claims brought by Epstein’s victims and government agencies alleging that Epstein effectively aided and abetted human trafficking while he was a client. The settlement with BoA must be approved by a judge in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where the lawsuit was filed.

“While we stand by our previous statements in this filing that Bank of America did not facilitate sex trafficking crimes, this resolution allows us to set aside this matter and provide additional closure for plaintiffs,” a Bank of America spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC.

According to Friday’s filing, the proposed settlement will pay “all women who were sexually abused or trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein or anyone associated with or associated with Jeffrey Epstein or Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking enterprise between June 30, 2008 and July 6, 2019.”

However, Deutsche Bank said in the settlement: “We acknowledge our mistakes and weaknesses in our processes in bringing Mr. Epstein to the company in 2013, and have learned from our mistakes and shortcomings.”

Like this case against BoA, three previous lawsuits were filed in federal court in Manhattan.

The lead plaintiff in the Bank of America case, who filed under the pseudonym Jane Doe, is from Russia and met with Epstein in 2011.

The complaint against BoA states that between that year and 2019, “Epstein sexually abused Jane Doe at least 100 times, including but not limited to forcibly touching her, forcibly raping her, and forcing her to engage in sexual acts with other women for his own depraved sexual gratification.”

According to the complaint, Jane Doe opened a bank account at Bank of America in May 2013 at the direction of Epstein’s accountant, Richard Kahn, and his immigration attorney as part of a scheme to defraud immigration officials.

“At the heart of the amended complaint, lead plaintiffs allege that Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking enterprise was facilitated and enabled by (Bank of America) helping Epstein evade regulatory scrutiny and providing withdrawal and wire transfer services to Epstein, all in order for defendants to profit from Epstein and his associates,” the settlement filing states.

“Lead Plaintiffs further allege that Defendants assisted Epstein’s sex trafficking enterprise, which precluded authorities from detecting his illegal scheme, increased the size and scale of Epstein’s access to and control of his victims, and harmed Class Members,” the filing states.

The bank “unequivocally denies, and continues to deny, that it participated in, aided, assisted, facilitated, or interfered in any way with Epstein’s sex trafficking enterprise.”

Epstein, 66, committed suicide in a federal prison in Manhattan in August 2019, weeks after he was arrested on child sex trafficking charges.

He pleaded guilty in Florida state court in 2008 to soliciting an underage girl into prostitution and was ultimately sentenced to 13 months in prison.