Bank Of America Settles Lawsuit Over Ties To Jeffrey Epstein's Sex Crimes
Authored by José Niño via Headline USA,
Bank of America has reached a settlement with an anonymous woman who accused the financial giant of enabling Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operation and profiting from his criminal enterprise.
A Bank of America flies backward, emblematic of the financial institution's backward mindset in prioritizing woke political objectives over shareholder profits and financial health. / IMAGE: Wcnc Newsroom via YouTube
Lawyers for both parties informed a judge they had agreed to a “settlement in principle” according to court filings made public on Monday that The Financial Times reported. The proposed agreement contains undisclosed terms and awaits judicial approval at a hearing scheduled for early April. Bank of America declined to comment on the matter.
The woman filed her lawsuit in October of last year in Manhattan federal court under the pseudonym Jane Doe. She sought class action status and financial damages while accusing BofA of “participating in and financially benefiting from Jeffrey Epstein’s widespread and well-publicised sex-trafficking operation, as well as the direct financial benefits it received therefrom.”
According to her complaint, the plaintiff first encountered Epstein while living in Russia in 2011.
She resided in New York from 2011 to 2019 during which time the convicted sex offender abused her. The lawsuit alleged that Bank of America failed to file suspicious activity reports to law enforcement about questionable transactions “before it was far too late” and ignored red flags the bank had a legal responsibility to report.
“A review of Jane Doe’s account history will show incredibly alarming and erratic banking behaviour,” the initial complaint stated.
The anonymous woman described opening a Bank of America account in 2013 that Epstein and his accountant Richard Kahn allegedly used to pay her monthly rent.
This arrangement purportedly created documentation used to “defraud immigration officials.”
Kahn transferred $14,000 into the account immediately after it was opened and the plaintiff alleged it “continued to be utilised by Epstein and Kahn through Epstein’s death in 2019 for activities unknown and unexplained to Jane Doe.”
The complaint also described how the woman was added to the payroll of a sham company that paid her through one of her BofA accounts. Federal law requires banks to monitor money laundering and report suspicious activity while blocking prohibited transactions. Epstein’s sex offenses became public knowledge as early as 2006 and the financier signed a non-prosecution agreement with the Justice Department in 2008.
The lawsuit highlighted an “abnormal” $170 million payment that billionaire Leon Black made to Epstein from his BofA account for alleged “tax and estate planning advice.”
Black was scheduled to be deposed as a witness later this month according to court filings. He is not a defendant and his lawyer declined to comment.
Judge Jed Rakoff denied Bank of America’s attempt to dismiss the case just last month. The plaintiff had also filed a motion seeking class action status which could have substantially increased damages.
Boies Schiller Flexner represented the plaintiff. The firm previously secured settlements from JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank in similar Epstein related cases.
Those banks paid $290 million and $75 million respectively to settle class action allegations from trafficking victims.