Deutsche Bank pays 75 million USD to a victim of Jeffrey Epstein
Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay up to $75 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a victim of Jeffrey Epstein, according to which the bank profited from human trafficking by keeping Epstein as a client, reports the Financial Times.
The lawsuit is one of three pending involving Epstein's lenders — the other two being a combined lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase, which is being sued by another alleged victim, and the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned property.
Deutsche Bank's lawsuit was filed in November as a proposed class action, based on a New York law that temporarily allowed abuse claims to be filed beyond the statute of limitations.
The accuser, Jane Doe, a generic name assigned by the authorities to protect the anonymity of the plaintiff, argued that the German bank "preferred profit to respect for the law" and knowingly engaged in business that would "earn millions of dollars facilitating Epstein's sex trafficking."
Judge Jed Rakoff, in his order partially dismissing Deutsche's attempt to dismiss the case, said Epstein "took advice from Deutsche Bank on how to structure his withdrawals to evade notification…and is been protected from Deutsche Bank's failure to submit suspicious activity reports."
Rakoff added that it was "plausible" that the bank had directly benefited from human trafficking in its order allowing the trial to proceed.
According to the Times, dozens of victims could eventually share the damages, which will be distributed by an administrator who will evaluate individual claims. According to the plaintiff's attorney, each accuser could receive up to $5 million.
“We are proud to have achieved such an important result for victims who deserved justice from all those who played a real role in their abuse,” said Brad Edwards, attorney for Doe.
In 2020, Deutsche Bank paid $150 million to the New York State Department of Financial Services for its ties to Epstein and related internal compliance failures . Last year the bank also agreed to pay $26 million to shareholders who accused it of misleading them about its client selection process.
Deutsche attempted to have Doe's case dismissed, arguing that the $7.4 million it received from the late Epstein's estate in April 2022 also covered his liability and that Doe's "flawed" complaint "does not came nowhere near” to claiming that the bank was part of Epstein's sex trafficking ring.
Epstein became a client of Deutsche Bank in 2013, years after he pleaded guilty to grooming a minor for prostitution, and soon after JPMorgan abandoned him following concerns about his lifestyle, including whether he would pay cash victims. Former JPMorgan banker Paul Morris, who moved to Deutsche, advised the bank that Epstein could bring lucrative clients with him.
Deutsche finally severed relations with Epstein only in 2018.
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The article Deutsche Bank pays 75 million USD to a victim of Jeffrey Epstein comes from Scenarios Economics .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/deutsche-bank-paga-75-milioni-usd-a-una-vittima-di-jeffrey-epstein/ on Thu, 18 May 2023 09:00:46 +0000.