Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $75 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by sexual assault victims of Jeffrey Epstein.
The bank was accused of keeping Epstein as a client for five years after discovering he was using money in his accounts to facilitate payments for a sex-trafficking ring, in which hundreds of young women were paid to have sex with Epstein and his friends.
A joint statement by law firms Edwards Pottinger and Boies Schiller Flexner, who represent Epstein’s victims, said the “groundbreaking settlement is the culmination of two law firms conducting more than a decade-long investigation to hold one of Epstein’s financial banking partners responsible for the role it played in facilitating his trafficking organization.”
Brittany Henderson, partner at Edwards Pottinger, said in the emailed statement, “We believe that this historic resolution stands for both justice and accountability as this is likely the largest sex-trafficking settlement involving a banking institution in U.S. history. The settlement will allow dozens of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein to finally attempt to restore their faith in our system knowing that all individuals and entities who facilitated Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation will finally be held accountable.”
Deutsche Bank did not provide comment.
JPMorgan Chase has also been sued regarding its ties to Epstein.
In September, Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $26.3 million to settle a lawsuit filed by shareholders accusing the bank of failing to remediate multiple deficiencies, including regarding the monitoring of its high-risk clients like Epstein. The bank denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle the case.
Deutsche Bank was ordered to pay $150 million in 2020 by the New York State Department of Financial Services for having compliance deficiencies that were related, in part, to its failure to properly monitor account activity conducted on behalf of Epstein despite earlier evidence of his criminal misconduct.
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