Deutsche Bank Agrees to Pay $75M to Epstein Victims

Lawsuit said bank benefited from Epstein’s sex trafficking
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 19, 2023 4:25 AM CDT
Deutsche Bank Agrees to Pay $75M to Epstein Victims
The logo for Deutsche Bank appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay $75 million to settle a lawsuit claiming that the German lender should have seen evidence of sex trafficking by Jeffrey Epstein when he was a client, according to lawyers for women who say they were abused by the late financier. A woman only identified as Jane Doe sued the bank in federal district court in New York and sought class-action status to represent other victims of Epstein. The lawsuit asserted that the bank knowingly benefited from Epstein’s sex trafficking and "chose profit over following the law" to earn millions of dollars from the businessman, the AP reports.

One of the law firms representing women in the case, Edwards Pottinger, said it believed it is the largest sex trafficking settlement with a bank in US 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," the firm said in statement. Deutsche Bank would not comment on the settlement Thursday but noted a 2020 statement from the bank acknowledging its mistake in taking on Epstein as a client, said Frank Hartmann, the German lender’s global head of media relations.

The Boies Schiller Flexner law firm called the settlement an important step for victims' rights. "The scope and scale of Epstein’s abuse, and the many years it continued in plain sight, could not have happened without the collaboration and support of many powerful individuals and institutions," David Boies, the firm's chairman, said in a statement. Deutsche Bank had previously joined JPMorgan Chase, which is also facing a lawsuit over its ties to Epstein, in fighting the allegations. (The Virgin Islands government is trying to subpoena Elon Musk as part of its own litigation against JPMorgan.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X