Deutsche Bank to pay $75 million to settle lawsuit by Jeffrey Epstein accusers
Deutsche Bank will pay $75 million to settle a lawsuit claiming that the German bank "knowingly benefited" from Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking, profiting from doing business with him.
The settlement, announced by lawyers for women who say they were abused by the late financier, is believed to be the largest sex trafficking settlement with a bank in U.S. history, according to law firm Edwards Pottinger.
In 2020, Deutsche Bank agreed to a $150 million settlement with the New York Department of Financial Services, which claimed the bank had for years allowed Epstein's questionable account activity to largely go unchecked because of the potential revenue that the financier could generate. Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase is facing allegations that it also "turned a blind eye" to Epstein's sex crimes to pursue business deals.
The lawyers for the women abused by Epstein said the Deutsche Bank settlement is the result of a decade-long investigation to hold the bank responsible.
Big win for victims of sex trafficking
"The settlement reached with Deutsche Bank is an important moment for sex trafficking victims because it establishes that those who hold the purse strings are accountable under the law," said Sigrid McCawley, managing partner of Boies Schiller Flexner, which with Edwards Pottinger, represented Epstein's victims.
She added, "This settlement signifies real progress for the rights of victims."
Deutsche Bank declined to comment on the settlement. It added that it has recently "made considerable progress in remedying a number of past issues, including investing more than 4 billion euros to bolster our controls, as well as training and operational processes. Further, we have increased the size of our global Anti-Financial Crime team to more than 1,900 employees."
In 2020, it acknowledged its "error of onboarding Epstein in 2013 and the weaknesses in our processes."
With reporting by the Associated Press.