BANK of America has agreed to pay US$72.5 million (approximately RM291 million) to settle a civil lawsuit brought by women who accused the bank of facilitating sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein, court records revealed on March 27.
The settlement follows a “settlement in principle” reached earlier this month, though terms were not previously disclosed.
A spokesperson for Bank of America stated, “While we stand by our prior statements made in the filings in this case, including that Bank of America did not facilitate sex trafficking crimes, this resolution allows us to put this matter behind us and provides further closure for the plaintiffs.”
The lawsuit, originally filed in October by a woman under the pseudonym Jane Doe, alleged that the bank ignored suspicious financial transactions connected to Epstein, prioritising profit over the protection of victims.
Court filings show that the plaintiffs’ attorneys, David Boies and Bradley Edwards, described the settlement as the best option for their clients, “given that many Class Members suffered harm many years ago and are in need of financial relief now.”
The lawyers may seek up to 30 per cent of the settlement, approximately US$21.8 million, for legal fees. Judge Jed Rakoff of the Manhattan-based US District Court has scheduled a hearing on April 2 to consider approving the deal.
Bank of America maintained that Doe’s allegations largely involved routine services to clients who had no known links to Epstein, calling any deeper involvement “threadbare and meritless.”
Nevertheless, Rakoff ruled in January that the bank must face claims that it knowingly benefitted from Epstein’s sex trafficking and obstructed enforcement of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
Among flagged transactions were payments to Epstein by Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black, who resigned as Apollo’s CEO in 2021 following a review that revealed he had paid Epstein US$158 million for tax and estate planning.
Black has denied wrongdoing and said he was unaware of Epstein’s criminal activities.
Doe’s lawyers have also pursued other alleged enablers of Epstein, reaching settlements of US$290 million with JPMorgan Chase and US$75 million with Deutsche Bank in 2023. They are currently appealing Rakoff’s dismissal of a similar lawsuit against Bank of New York Mellon.
Epstein died in August 2019 in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, a death later ruled a suicide by New York City’s medical examiner.
This settlement marks the latest legal resolution in a complex web of civil actions against financial institutions linked to Epstein, offering financial redress for survivors while underscoring ongoing scrutiny of banks’ roles in high-profile abuse cases. - March 28, 2026
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