Judge puts Epstein victim lawsuits against Bank of America and BNY on the fast track

Jeffrey Epstein at the 1995 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

Jeffrey Epstein victims’ lawsuits against banks could go to trial as soon as next summer.
The lawsuits allege Bank of America and BNY ignored red flags in his sex-trafficking operations.
Previous similar lawsuits against JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank resulted in costly settlements.

A pair of lawsuits against banks from Jeffrey Epstein victims is going on the fast track.

At a Monday hearing, US District Judge Jed Rakoff ordered lawyers to comply with quick-turnaround deadlines for the cases, which were filed against Bank of America and BNY.

The two lawsuits, filed in October, alleged the banks ignored red flags related to Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation.

Rakoff set November deadlines for motions to dismiss the cases, with an oral argument for December 15.

The judge ordered that all discovery, including depositions, must be completed by February 27.

If the cases go to trial, they’ll be back-to-back in May and June of 2026, Rakoff said.

The lawsuit against Bank of America alleges that one of Epstein’s employees instructed one of his victims to open an account with the bank in her own name, and then used it to pay her rent while Epstein sexually abused her over the course of several years. The account was also used for other purposes, which may have facilitated the sex-trafficking of other women, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit against BNY alleged the financial institution processed $378 million in payments to Epstein’s victims while failing to flag those transactions as suspicious.

“The claims in the lawsuit are meritless, and we will vigorously defend against it,” a BNY spokesperson told Business Insider. A representative for Bank of America didn’t immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.

Epstein killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. Ghislaine Maxwell, his former partner, was convicted of trafficking girls to him for sex in 2021 and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Both lawsuits could help shed light on how Epstein made and moved around his money. His estate was valued at about $630 million at the time of his death.

Both lawsuits were brought by lawyers at Boies Schiller Flexner, along with attorneys Brad Edwards and Brittany Henderson, who have collectively represented more than 100 Epstein victims over the years.

The attorneys filed similar lawsuits in late 2022 against JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank.

Rakoff, who also oversaw those lawsuits, put them on the fast track as well. JPMorgan agreed to settle the case for $290 million. Deutsche Bank agreed to settle for $75 million.

BNY is represented by WilmerHale, with some of the same attorneys who represented JPMorgan in the lawsuit against the bank. Bank of America is represented by the Big Law firm Jones Day.

At the end of Monday’s hearing, Rakoff said he hoped the parties would not settle the lawsuits.

“With lawyers of this supreme quality, if this case settles, I will be extraordinarily disappointed because I will be deprived of two fantastic trials by excellent lawyers,” Rakoff said. “Now, I don’t want to discourage you from settling. There are some of my colleagues that think settling is always the way to go. But I’m much more selfish and I would love to see two very good trials.”

Read the original article on Business Insider

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