Bank of America has become the third major bank to settle with victims over allegations of facilitating Epstein crimes.
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Lawyers have estimated that as many as 75 women may have a stake in the $72.5m settlement reached with Bank of America over accusations related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
United States District Judge Jed Rakoff had called on the lawyers to compile a broad list of publications by Friday that could be used to notify Epstein’s victims, who are believed to number in the hundreds.
Rakoff explained he wanted to make sure that “nobody is left out” of the settlement. A final approval hearing for the settlement is scheduled for August 27.
The settlement was first announced in court filings on March 27, after a proposed class action lawsuit against Bank of America was allowed to proceed.
In October, a woman who went by the pseudonym Jane Doe filed the lawsuit on behalf of herself and the other women and girls who say they were abused by Epstein.
She and her lawyers argued that Bank of America, the second-largest banking institution in the US, had ignored suspicious transactions related to Epstein’s sex-trafficking operations.
The lawsuit further alleged that Bank of America knowingly benefitted from its relationship with Epstein and obstructed enforcement of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, a federal law designed to prosecute sex trafficking.
As part of the settlement, Bank of America reiterated its position that it did not participate in Epstein’s sex crimes.
“While we stand by our prior statements made in the filings in this case, including that Bank of America did not facilitate sex trafficking crimes, this resolution allows us to put this matter behind us and provides further closure for the plaintiffs,” its statement said.
Rakoff gave his preliminary approval to the settlement on Thursday, though he acknowledged that the gravity of Epstein’s crimes go beyond a dollar amount.
“While it’s perhaps extremely likely that the victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s monstrous acts can never be fully compensated, the victims are entitled to receive just compensation from any person or entity that knowingly, recklessly or otherwise unlawfully facilitated his sexual trafficking,” Rakoff said.
The Bank of America deal is the third such settlement with a major banking institution.
