This month, attorneys for both the bank and the women informed Manhattan-based US District Judge Jed Rakoff that they had reached a “settlement in principle,” although the specifics of the agreement were not disclosed.
“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,” said a spokesperson for Bank of America in a statement.
In a joint court filing, David Boies and Bradley Edwards, attorneys for the plaintiffs, indicated that the settlement was the best outcome for their clients “considering that many Class Members experienced harm many years ago and require financial relief now.”
The plaintiffs’ attorneys may request up to 30% of the settlement, approximately $21.8 million, for legal fees, according to court documents.
This settlement is subject to Judge Rakoff’s approval, and he has scheduled a court hearing for Thursday to evaluate the agreement.
The proposed class action, initiated in October by a woman using the pseudonym Jane Doe, accused the second-largest U.S. bank of overlooking suspicious financial transactions associated with Epstein, despite a “plethora” of information about his criminal activities, prioritizing profit over victim protection.
Bank of America responded by stating that Doe only claimed it provided standard services to individuals who had no known connections to Epstein at the time, arguing that any assertion of deeper involvement was “threadbare and meritless.”
In January, Rakoff ruled that Bank of America must address Doe’s allegations that it knowingly profited from Epstein’s sex trafficking and hindered the enforcement of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Among the transactions highlighted by Doe were payments made to Epstein by Apollo Global Management’s billionaire co-founder, Leon Black.
Black resigned as Apollo’s CEO in 2021 after an external law firm’s review revealed he paid Epstein $158 million for tax and estate planning.
He has denied any wrongdoing and stated he was unaware of Epstein’s criminal activities.
Doe’s legal team has also pursued claims against other alleged facilitators 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 also appealing Rakoff’s dismissal of a similar lawsuit they filed against Bank of New York Mellon in January.
Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, and his death was ruled a suicide by New York City’s medical examiner.
