Bank of America has agreed to settle a civil lawsuit filed by women who say the bank enabled Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse, according to court records made public on Monday. The case had been brought as a proposed class action by a plaintiff identified only as Jane Doe in October.
In the complaint, Doe alleged that Bank of America ignored a "plethora" of information pointing to Epstein's criminal conduct and continued to process suspicious financial transactions because it prioritized profit over protecting victims. The bank responded that Doe's claims amounted only to an assertion that it provided routine banking services to individuals who at the time had no known connections to Epstein, and that any suggestion of a deeper role was "threadbare and meritless."
Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff had previously ruled in January that Bank of America must face Doe's allegations that the institution knowingly benefited from Epstein's sex trafficking and impeded enforcement of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The settlement remains subject to Rakoff's approval.
Doe's filings highlighted several transactions she considered suspicious, including payments to Epstein linked to Leon Black, the billionaire co-founder of Apollo Global Management. Black stepped down as Apollo's chief executive in 2021 after an outside law firm review concluded he had paid Epstein $158 million for tax and estate planning. Black has denied any wrongdoing and has said he was unaware of Epstein's criminal behavior.
Black had been scheduled to give testimony under oath on March 26 to lawyers representing Doe and Bank of America. That deposition is not expected to proceed because of the settlement. A trial that had been set for May 11 also will not occur if Judge Rakoff approves the agreement.
Doe's legal team has pursued litigation against other parties it says enabled Epstein's trafficking. In 2023, those lawyers reached settlements resolving claims on behalf of Epstein's accusers totaling $290 million with JPMorgan Chase and $75 million with Deutsche Bank.
Jeffrey Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges; New York City's medical examiner ruled his death a suicide.
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