NEW YORK— Bank of America has agreed to pay $72.5 million to settle a proposed class action brought by women who accused the bank of helping facilitate Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operation, according to court papers filed Friday in federal court in Manhattan.
The deal, which still requires approval from U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, was disclosed in a motion for preliminary approval after the parties earlier said they had reached a settlement in principle, Reuters reported.
The proposed class action was filed in October by a plaintiff identified as Jane Doe, who alleged the nation’s second-largest bank ignored suspicious transactions tied to Epstein and his associates despite extensive public information about his prior sex-crimes history. Reuters reported the complaint accused Bank of America of knowingly benefiting from Epstein’s trafficking and obstructing enforcement of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act, claims Rakoff allowed to proceed earlier this year while dismissing several others.
Bank of America said it continues to deny wrongdoing. In a statement reported by multiple outlets, the bank said it stands by its prior filings that it “did not facilitate sex trafficking crimes,” but added the settlement allows it to put the matter behind it and provide closure for plaintiffs. Reuters said plaintiffs’ lawyers David Boies and Bradley Edwards support the agreement and may seek up to 30% of the settlement fund in attorneys’ fees. A hearing on preliminary approval is scheduled for April 2.
The Bank of America deal is the latest major financial-industry settlement tied to Epstein. Reuters noted that attorneys for Epstein accusers previously reached settlements of $290 million with JPMorgan Chase and $75 million with Deutsche Bank in 2023, while a separate settlement with Epstein’s estate was preliminarily approved this month. The Bank of America case had also drawn attention because billionaire Apollo co-founder Leon Black—who has denied wrongdoing—was identified as a key witness and had been slated for a deposition before the settlement mooted that step.