18 May 2023 , 13:35
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German banking giant Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay a whopping $75million to settle a lawsuit brought about by women who say they were abused by Jeffrey Epstein.
The lawsuit claimed the German lender should have seen evidence of sex trafficking by the late financier when he was a client, according to lawyers for the victims.
A woman, identified only as Jane Doe, sued the bank in federal district court in New York.
She sought class-action status in order to represent other victims of Epstein.
Her lawsuit asserted the German lender knowingly benefited from Epstein's sex trafficking and "chose profit over following the law" to earn millions of dollars from the late businessman.
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Edwards Pottinger, one of the law firms representing women in the case, said it believed the settlement to be the largest sex trafficking settlement with a bank in US history.
Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay a $75million settlement to victims (Bloomberg via Getty Images)"The settlement will allow dozens of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein to finally attempt to restore their faith in our system knowing that all individuals and entities who facilitated Epstein's sex-trafficking operation will finally be held accountable," the firm said in a statement.
Deutsche Bank did not comment on the settlement but noted a 2020 statement acknowledging its mistake in taking on Epstein as a client, Frank Hartmann, the bank's global head of media relations, said.
In a written statement, he said: "The Bank has invested more than 4 billion euros ($4.3bn, £3.47bn) to bolster controls, processes and training, and hired more people to fight financial crime."
He committed suicide in his cell in 2019 (New York State Sex Offender Regi)The Boies Schiller Flexner law firm, which is also representing women in the case, called the settlement an important step for victims' rights.
Chairman David Boies said: "The scope and scale of Epstein's abuse, and the many years it continued in plain sight, could not have happened without the collaboration and support of many powerful individuals and institutions."
Epstein committed suicide in prison while facing federal criminal charges of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls.