Bank of America agrees to pay $72.5 million to settle lawsuits filed by Epstein's accusers

Court records from Friday show that Bank of America has agreed to pay $72.5 million to settle a civil lawsuit filed by women accusing the bank of facilitating the sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein.

The bank and the lawyers for these women told U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan earlier this month that they had reached a “principled settlement,” but did not disclose the terms of the deal at that time.

“A Bank of America spokesperson said in a statement: ‘While we maintain the statements made previously 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.’”

In a joint court filing, plaintiff attorneys David Boies and Bradley Edwards stated, “Given that many of the class members were harmed years ago, economic relief is now needed,” and that the settlement is the best option for their clients.

According to court records, the plaintiff attorneys may request up to 30% of the settlement amount as legal fees, which would be about $21.8 million.

The settlement requires Rakoff’s approval. The judge will hold a court hearing to consider approving the agreement.

The class action lawsuit, brought by Jane Doe in October, accuses the nation’s second-largest bank of ignoring suspicious financial transactions related to Epstein, despite “substantial” information about Epstein’s crimes, prioritizing profits over the protection of victims.

Bank of America claims that the unnamed individual only accused the bank of providing routine services to individuals who had no known connections to Epstein at the time, and that any allegations suggesting deeper involvement by the bank are “baseless and unfounded.”

Rakoff ruled in January that Bank of America must face the unnamed individual’s claims that the bank knowingly profited from Epstein’s sex trafficking and obstructed the implementation of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The transactions pointed out by the unnamed individual include payments made by billionaire co-founder Leon Black of Apollo Global Management (APO.N) to Epstein.

Black resigned as CEO of Apollo in 2021 after an external law firm found he paid Epstein $158 million for tax and estate planning.

Black denies any wrongdoing and states that he was unaware of Epstein’s criminal activities.

The unnamed individual’s attorneys also sued other individuals accused of facilitating Epstein’s sex trafficking and reached a $290 million settlement with JPMorgan in 2023, as well as a $75 million settlement with Deutsche Bank.

In January, Rakoff dismissed their similar lawsuit against Bank of New York Mellon (BK.N).

Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide by the New York City medical examiner.

For extensive news and precise interpretation, visit the Sina Finance app.

Editor: Liu Mingliang