Deutsche Bank will pay $75 million to victims
Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $75 million to victims of sex predator Jeffrey Epstein to settle a federal lawsuit accusing the bank of enabling and benefitting from its customer's sex trafficking of young women, sources told CNBC on Wednesday night.
The bombshell deal still leaves JPMorgan Chase to defend its own would-be class action lawsuit by Epstein accusers in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, which involves similar allegations.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who has said the bank is not liable for sex trafficking by its former long-time customer Epstein, is due to be deposed in that suit, and a related one by the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands on May 26.
The settlement agreement by Deutsche Bank, which will set aside $75 million for Epstein accusers, was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Under the deal, victims of Epstein who were affected by his sex trafficking during the time when he was a customer of Deutsche Bank, from 2013 through 2018, would receive at least $75,000 and up to $5 million depending on an evaluation of their claims.
Deutsche Bank spokesman Dylan Riddle would not comment on the deal, but noted that his bank has spent more than 4 billion euros [$4.34 billion] to strengthen internal financial controls.
"In recent years Deutsche Bank has made considerable progress in remedying a number of past issues," Riddle said.
He noted that in 2020, when the bank agreed to pay a $150 million fine to New York's financial regulator for its dealings with Epstein and other issues, Deutsche Bank had said, "We acknowledge our error onboarding Epstein in 2013, and the weaknesses in our processes, and have learnt from our mistakes and our shortcomings."
Source: CNBC
