Financial institution of America stated it was solely claiming that Jane Doe was offering routine companies to individuals whose ties to Epstein had been then utterly unknown, and that any suggestion of deeper involvement was “banal and nonsensical.”
Financial institution of America has agreed to pay $72.5 million to settle civil lawsuits introduced by girls who accused the financial institution of facilitating sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein, courtroom information confirmed on Friday (March 27, 2026).
Attorneys for the financial institution and the ladies instructed Manhattan-based U.S. District Choose Jed Rakoff this month that they’d reached a “settlement in precept,” however phrases of the deal weren’t disclosed on the time.
“Whereas we stand by our earlier statements on this submitting that Financial institution of America didn’t facilitate intercourse trafficking crimes, this decision permits us to put aside this matter and supply extra closure for plaintiffs,” a Financial institution of America spokesperson stated in a press release.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys David Boies and Bradley Edwards stated in a joint courtroom submitting that the settlement is the best choice for his or her purchasers “provided that many class members had been harmed years in the past and are actually in want of economic reduction.”
Attorneys for the plaintiffs may search as much as 30% of the settlement, or about $21.8 million, in authorized charges, in keeping with courtroom information. The settlement requires Lakoff’s approval. A choose scheduled a courtroom listening to for Thursday (March 26, 2026) to contemplate approving the transaction.
A proposed class motion lawsuit filed in October by a lady utilizing the pseudonym Jane Doe accuses the nation’s second-largest financial institution of ignoring suspicious monetary transactions associated to Epstein, regardless of a “huge quantity” of details about his crimes, as a result of it prioritized income over defending victims.
Financial institution of America stated Ms. Doe’s claims had been merely offering routine companies to individuals whose ties to Epstein had been utterly unknown on the time, and that ideas of deeper involvement had been “banal and nonsensical.”
Mr. Rakoff dominated in January that Financial institution of America should confront Mr. Doe’s claims that it knowingly profited from Mr. Epstein’s intercourse trafficking and obstructed enforcement of federal human trafficking sufferer safety legal guidelines. The transactions Mr. Doe reported included funds to Mr. Epstein by Leon Black, the billionaire co-founder of Apollo International Administration.
Mr. Black resigned as Apollo’s chief govt in 2021 after an investigation by an out of doors legislation agency discovered that he had paid Mr. Epstein $158 million for tax and property planning functions.
Mr. Black has denied any wrongdoing and stated he had no information of Mr. Epstein’s felony exercise. Doe’s legal professionals have additionally accused others of enabling Epstein’s intercourse trafficking, and in 2023 reached settlements on his behalf with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and $75 million with Deutsche Financial institution.
Attorneys are additionally interesting the January dismissal of an identical lawsuit Lakoff filed towards New York Mellon Financial institution. Epstein died in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 whereas awaiting trial on intercourse trafficking expenses. His loss of life was dominated a suicide by the New York Metropolis medical expert.
