Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay $75 million to settle a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging the German bank facilitated the late Jeffrey Epstein‘s sex-trafficking ring, according attorneys for the plaintiffs.
The suit was filed last year in New York by a woman listed in court filings as Jane Doe 1 on behalf of herself and other accusers, alleging Deutsche Bank did business with Epstein for five years despite knowing he was engaged in sex-trafficking.
Deutsche Bank did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement, a person familiar with the matter told DailyMail.com late on Wednesday.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers, from the law firms Boies Schiller Flexner and Edwards Pottinger, said they believed the $75 million was the largest sex-trafficking settlement involving a banking institution.
Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay $75 million to settle a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging the German bank facilitated the late Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring
Deutsche Bank did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement, a person familiar with the matter told DailyMail.com late on Wednesday
‘This 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,’ the law firms said in a joint statement to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the settlement.
A Deutsche Bank spokesman declined to discuss the settlement or comment on any specifics when reached by DailyMail.com.
However, the bank pointed to a prior statement in which it acknowledged that making Epstein a client was a mistake.
‘We acknowledge our error of onboarding Epstein in 2013 and the weaknesses in our processes. We have learnt from our mistakes and deeply regret our association with Epstein,’ the bank said in a public statement in July 2020.
Deutsche Bank also says it has invested more than 4 billion euros to bolster its controls, processes and training, and hired more people to fight financial crime.
The settlement resolves claims in the proposed class action filed in Manhattan federal court by Epstein’s accusers, and was confirmed by their lawyers. Court approval of the deal is still required.
Little St. James Island, one of the properties of financier Jeffrey Epstein, is seen in an aerial view. The island was known to locals as ‘Pedophile Island’ and the ‘Island of Sin’
The New York City Mansion that belonged to Jeffrey Epstein is seen in a file photo
Epstein had been a Deutsche Bank client from 2013 to 2018, a period that followed his guilty plea in Florida to procuring a minor for prostitution.
David Boies, one of the accusers’ lawyers, told Reuters that Epstein’s abuses ‘could not have happened without the collaboration and support of many powerful individuals and institutions.’
‘We appreciate Deutsche Bank’s willingness to take responsibility for its role,’ he added.
A trial in the case had been scheduled for September 5.
It wasn’t immediately clear how the settlement might affect JPMorgan Chase, which faces similar but even larger lawsuits filed by Epstein’s accusers and by the US Virgin Islands, where the financier had a private island.
Epstein was a JPMorgan client from 1998 to 2013, a period when prosecutors say he trafficked many women and underage girls.
Court papers in that case outlined many claims about the bank’s alleged ignoring or turning a blind eye to Epstein’s activities.
Epstein’s longtime associate, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, was sentenced last year to 20 years in prison for helping him recruit and groom underage girls
The Deutsche Bank case was led by an unidentified plaintiff, known as Jane Doe 1, who said Epstein sexually abused her from 2003 to 2018.
A different Jane Doe 1, a former ballet dancer who said Epstein trafficked her from 2006 to 2013, is leading the accusers’ case against JPMorgan.
Epstein died behind bars in August 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking dozens of girls as young as 14. New York City’s medical examiner ruled his death a suicide.
Epstein’s longtime associate, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, was sentenced last year to 20 years in prison for helping him recruit and groom underage girls over the course of at least a decade.
Maxwell, 61, is currently serving her sentence at Florida’s FCI Tallahassee prison. She has appealed her conviction.
