Bank of America has reached a tentative settlement in a lawsuit filed by Jeffrey Epstein victims that alleged the bank ignored suspicious financial activity while he sexually abused hundreds of girls and women. The development was disclosed in Manhattan federal court filings on Monday, with settlement terms not released publicly. The bank declined to comment through a spokesperson.
The proposed settlement surfaced the same day that billionaire financier Leon Black was originally scheduled to be deposed in the case. A lawyer for Black, Michael Carlinsky, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
The judge overseeing the case, Jed S. Rakoff, had recently postponed Black’s deposition by 10 days after Carlinsky persuaded the court that the parties were close to settling. Black is not named as a defendant in the civil case, but Epstein victims’ lawyer Sigrid McCawley has described him as a “critical witness.”
In a statement issued Tuesday, McCawley said she was paying tribute to what she called the “brave and fearless voices” of Epstein victims and described their “road to justice” as long and trying. She said the Bank of America settlement was “one more step on the road to much deserved justice.”
The lawsuit, filed in October and brought on behalf of a woman identified in court papers only as Jane Doe and “all others similarly situated,” alleged that the woman met Epstein in 2011 while she was living in Russia and was coerced into a “cult-like life.” The filing said that between 2011 and 2019, she was controlled “financially, emotionally, and psychologically” by Epstein, including after he sexually abused her on at least 100 occasions.
According to the complaint, Epstein paid the woman through a Bank of America account, including by covering rent and an income stream through what the lawsuit described as a phony job. The filing also alleged that Epstein held her immigration status “over her head,” until her escape when Epstein died in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, according to court proceedings described in the case.
The lawsuit further alleged that Bank of America ignored “numerous red flags” of improper financial dealings and “went far beyond what a non-complicit bank would have done,” including by assisting in setting up the “necessary financial structure” to run Epstein’s sex-trafficking venture. It accused the bank of failing to act even as it allegedly processed significant transfers connected to Epstein.
The complaint said it involved $170 million that Black paid from a Bank of America account to Epstein for “tax and estate planning advice.” The filing described those payments as being routed through large wire transfers, and it characterized the surrounding financial conduct as part of Epstein’s abuse enterprise.
The case drew attention in part because of a broader trove of documents released by the Justice Department about law enforcement probes of Epstein. A review reported by The Associated Press and other news organizations said Black’s name appeared 8,200 times in the release, which the reporting noted likely included duplicate records.
In March 2021, Black stepped down as CEO of Apollo Global Management, saying he wanted to focus on his family, health, and “many other interests.” A board committee report in January of that earlier period, as described in the Associated Press reporting, said Epstein advised Black personally on estate planning, tax issues, charitable giving and running his “family office,” while also stating it found “no evidence” Black was involved in Epstein’s alleged criminal activities.
Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, a Democrat who sits on the Senate Finance Committee, said the bank’s decision to settle was a “step towards justice and a vindication” of his staff’s investigation into how major Wall Street banks enabled Epstein’s crimes. Wyden said the bank “willfully looked the other way” as Black paid Epstein the $170 million through “huge wire transfers,” often in $10 million or $20 million installments.