Bank of America has agreed to pay $72.5 million to settle a civil lawsuit brought by women who accused the bank of facilitating their sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein, according to court records. The settlement was reached after lawyers for both Bank of America and the plaintiffs told US District Judge Jed Rakoff they had “reached a settlement in principle,” though terms were not disclosed at that time.
Bank of America’s spokesperson stated that while they stand by prior statements denying any involvement in sex trafficking crimes, this resolution allows them to put the matter behind them and provide closure for the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs’ lawyers may seek up to 30% of the settlement, or about $21.8 million, for legal fees.
The proposed class action was filed in October by a woman using the pseudonym Jane Doe, who accused Bank of America of ignoring suspicious financial transactions related to Epstein despite “a plethora” of information about his crimes because it valued profit over protecting victims. The bank has maintained that Doe alleged only routine services were provided to people with no known links to Epstein, and any suggestion of deeper involvement was “threadbare and meritless.”
Judge Rakoff ruled in January that Bank of America must face claims it knowingly benefited from Epstein’s sex trafficking and obstructed enforcement of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Among the transactions Doe flagged were payments to Epstein by Apollo Global Management’s billionaire co-founder, Leon Black.
Black has denied wrongdoing and said he was unaware of Epstein’s criminal conduct. Doe’s lawyers have also sued other alleged enablers of Epstein’s sex trafficking, reaching settlements of $290 million with JPMorgan Chase and $75 million with Deutsche Bank in 2023 on behalf of his accusers. The lawyers are appealing Rakoff’s dismissal of a similar lawsuit against Bank of New York Mellon.
Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, ruled a suicide by the medical examiner.