In lighter news relating to Jeff Epstein and his victims, Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay $75 million to settle a lawsuit claiming the bank assisted in facilitating sex trafficking by the convicted sex offender when he was their client.
According to The Wall Street Journal, an unnamed “Jane Doe’ plaintiff filed the suit back in November on behalf of herself and other alleged victims of Epstein.
She said Deutsche Bank “chose profit over following the law” as it knew it would “earn millions of dollars from facilitating Epstein’s sex trafficking.”
The woman alleged that she was sexually abused by Epstein as well as trafficked to his friends for around 15 years while receiving consistent cash payments for her sexual acts.
“This groundbreaking settlement is the culmination of two law firms conducting more than a decade-long investigation to hold one of Epstein’s financial banking partners responsible for the role it played in facilitating his trafficking organization,” law firms Boies Schiller Flexner and Edwards Pottinger said in a joint statement.
“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 added.
The bank decided to take Epstein as a client, even after the various charges of sex trafficking were already in the media headlines. Epstein had already pleaded guilty to two state-level prostitution charges in Florida, including one involving a minor.
He served only 13 months in prison and was released during the day to run his business. He also reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors in 2008 to dispense with charges similar to the ones he faced shortly before his death.
Deutsche Bank previously sought to have the lawsuit dismissed. The settlement is expected to be used to pay compensations to dozens of victims.
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