On Wednesday, Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $75 million to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein following claims that the bank encouraged and profited from its client’s sex-trafficked victims.
However, JPMorgan Chase still faces a similar class action lawsuit by Epstein accusers in the US District Court in Manhattan.
On May 26, JPMorgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon is scheduled to give a deposition in this case as well as one linked to the U.S. Virgin Islands government, where he has stated that the bank is not responsible for the sex trafficking by long-time client Epstein.
According to the agreement, victims of Epstein’s sex trafficking from 2013 to 2018 would receive a minimum of $75,000 and a maximum of $5 million, based on the assessment of their claims.
In 2020, the bank agreed to pay $150 million for its dealings with Epstein. Deutsche Bank has said, “We acknowledge our error on boarding Epstein in 2013, and the weaknesses in our processes, and have learnt from our mistakes and our shortcomings.”
The two lawyers representing the accusers told CNBC in a joint statement: “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.”
According to the lawsuit, “Deutsche Bank also knew that Epstein would use means of force, threats of force, fraud, abuse of legal process, exploitation of power disparity, and a variety of other forms of coercion to cause young women and girls to engage in commercial sex acts.”
“Knowing that they would earn millions of dollars from facilitating Epstein’s sex trafficking, and from its relationship with Epstein, Deutsche Bank chose profit over following the law,” the suit said. “Specifically, Deutsche Bank chose facilitating a sex trafficking operation in order to churn profits.”
Epstein, a JPMorgan client from 1998 until 2013, switched to Deutsche Bank when JPMorgan ceased its banking arrangement with him.
“Deutsche Bank picked up exactly where JPMorgan left off and became the bank that Epstein needed to fund his sexual abuse and sex-trafficking operation,” the suit says.
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