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Judge to grant final approval of Bank of America’s $72.5M Epstein settlement
The settlement is set to be finalized after a judge rejected challenges that it was overbroad or covered materially different claims, and it follows earlier 2023 resolutions by JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank.
A federal judge in Manhattan said he would grant final approval to Bank of America’s $72.5 million class action settlement with women who accused the bank of facilitating Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse.
According to Insurance Journal, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff said the deal would provide many victims with substantial compensation and he dismissed arguments from three accusers that the settlement was overly broad because it required participants to give up related claims without additional compensation.
Rakoff also rejected claims that the settlement should not cover allegations materially different from those of the lead plaintiff, known by the pseudonym Jane Doe, a Florida resident who said Epstein abused her at least 100 times between 2011 and 2019.
The lawsuit is part of a wider set of cases accusing Epstein’s banks of ignoring suspicious financial transactions tied to Epstein after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to a Florida state prostitution charge and became a registered sex offender, Insurance Journal said. It noted that Doe’s lawyers reached settlements of $290 million with JPMorgan Chase and $75 million with Deutsche Bank in 2023, and that Bank of America, which agreed to settle in March, said it did not facilitate sex trafficking crimes.