Judge gives $290M JPMorgan settlement with Epstein victims final approval

Update:

• A federal judge in New York gave final approval to a $290 million settlement between JPMorgan Chase and Jeffrey Epstein victims who argued the bank aided and abetted his decades-long sex trafficking scheme. 
• U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff says that while he was initially hesitant to sign off on such a large settlement agreement, he determined it was deserved. 
• Epstein victims argued JPMorgan was aware of the sex trafficking scheme and provided him with the financial infrastructure needed to run it. 
• One Epstein victim objected to the settlement agreement, arguing it was inadequate for the amount of severe damages she and other victims endured. 
• The deal did not lack precedent, with Deutsche Bank agreeing to pay $75 million in May to end claims it allowed Epstein to hold an account with it for five years. 

Epstein bank class action lawsuits overview: 

• Who: A plaintiff identified as Jane Doe 1 filed separate class action lawsuits against JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank. 
• Why: Doe claims JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank aided and profited off of Jeffrey Epstein’s decades-long sex trafficking scheme. 
• Where: The class action lawsuits were filed in New York federal court.

(Dec. 01, 2022)

Deutsche Bank AG and JPMorgan Chase aided and financially profited off of Jeffrey Epstein’s decades-long sex trafficking scheme, a pair of class actions filed individually against the banks allege.

A plaintiff identified as Jane Doe 1 claims Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan profited off of Epstein’s sex trafficking and allegedly provided him with financial support while ignoring “blatant red flags” with his banking activity. 

“Knowing that they would earn millions of dollars from facilitating Epstein’s sex abuse and trafficking, (the banks) chose profits over following the law,” the JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank class actions state. 

Doe claims JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank let Epstein make large cash withdrawals from his bank accounts to pay women who either recruited or participated in the financier’s sex trafficking ring. 

JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank also failed to comply with laws surrounding anti-money laundering and reporting, while allegedly falling short of doing their “due diligence” about Epstein’s activities, the JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank class actions allege.

JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank knew about Epstein running sex trafficking ring, class actions say

Doe argues JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank were aware of Epstein’s sex trafficking ring due to how he managed his accounts with them and his registered sex offender status. 

“As a registered sex offender discovered to be sexually abusing multiple young women each day through a pyramid-type recruiting scheme that required the transfer of millions of dollars to continue the operation, a complicit bank became more important than ever,” the JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank class actions state. 

Doe wants to represent nationwide classes of women whom Epstein sexually trafficked while he maintained a bank account with Deutsche Bank from Aug. 19, 2013, to Dec. 31, 2018, and with JPMorgan from 2000 to 2013. 

She also alleges JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank violated the New York Adult Survivors Act and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. 

Doe demands a jury trial in both complaints and requests awards of compensatory, consequential, general, nominal, punitive and exemplary damages — along with treble damages for the Deutsche Bank complaint — for herself and all class members. 

In January, a federal judge in New York rejected an attempt by Britain’s Prince Andrew to escape a civil lawsuit filed by a woman accusing him of sexually abusing her when she was a minor after she says Epstein trafficked her. 

Do you have a bank account with JPMorgan or Deutsche Bank? Let us know in the comments. 

The plaintiffs are represented by Bradley J. Edwards and Brittany N. Henderson of Edwards Pottinger LLC; David Boies and Sigrid McCawley of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP; and Paul G. Cassell of S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah.

The Epstein bank class action lawsuits are Doe 1, et al. v. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Case No. 1:22-cv-10019, and Doe 1, et al. v. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, et al., Case No. 1:22-cv-10018, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. 

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