Bank of America to pay $72.5 million to Epstein victims after ignoring signs of sex trafficking

Bank of America agreed to pay $72.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of hundreds of victims of child molester financier Jeffrey Epstein. The settlement, announced Friday in federal court in Manhattan, still requires court approval.

The lawsuit contended that the bank ignored obvious signs that accounts linked to Epstein were used to fund and cover up his abuses. Among the clues that, according to the indictment, should have triggered alerts: accounts opened in the names of young foreign women with no employment or demonstrable income, opened at the direct instruction of employees of the financier.

The bank denied facilitating sex trafficking crimes, but opted for the settlement to, in its own words, close the matter and give greater redress to the victims.

It is not the first bank to reach this point. JPMorgan Chase, which had a business relationship with Epstein of about 15 years, paid $290 million in a previous settlement. Deutsche Bank, which managed his accounts for about five years, paid $75 million. Bank of America now joins as the third on the list, with a relationship that largely began when JPMorgan had already cut ties with him.

The settlement covers victims who suffered abuse between 2008 and 2019. The lead plaintiff came from Russia in 2011, was in her early 20s and, according to the lawsuit, was abused more than 100 times and subjected to a life of total dependency.

The case also put the spotlight on Leon Black, the private equity billionaire who transferred some $170 million to Epstein from his accounts at Bank of America. Black contends the payments were for legal and estate planning services. He was not sued and is not a party to the settlement.

Epstein died in 2019 in his jail cell while awaiting federal trial for sex trafficking, in what authorities determined to be a suicide.