A federal judge approved a $72.5 million settlement between Bank of America and a group of Jeffrey Epstein's victims Thursday, making the bank the third major financial institution to publicly resolve such a lawsuit.
"The settlement class has been properly served," Judge Jed Rakoff decided Thursday.
The plaintiffs, suing collectively under the pseudonym Jane Doe, accused the bank of ignoring suspicious transactions tied to Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. Bank of America agreed to the settlement in March while continuing to deny that it facilitated Epstein's crimes.
Among the transactions the plaintiffs identified as suspicious were payments made to Epstein by Leon Black. Black stepped down as chief executive of Apollo Global Management after an independent review found he had paid Epstein $158 million for estate planning services. Black previously described his relationship with Epstein as involving professional services for estate planning, tax, and philanthropic advice, calling it "a horrible mistake." He has denied any involvement in or knowledge of Epstein's crimes and said any suggestion of his involvement in "Epstein's reprehensible conduct is categorically untrue."
The same group of plaintiffs previously reached settlements with JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank. Their claim against Bank of New York Mellon was dismissed after the court found the complaint had not adequately alleged civil liability under the Trafficking Victims' Protection Act or that the bank had obstructed investigations of Epstein.
Bank of America had previously sought to have the case thrown out, arguing the lawsuit attempted to radically expand liability for banks providing routine services to customers with no known connection to Epstein's crimes at the time.
A spokesperson for the bank told ABC News Thursday: "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."
An attorney for the accusers had previously described the settlement as "one more step on the road to much-deserved justice."
