Bank of America has agreed to pay $72.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that the bank facilitated a sex trafficking ring orchestrated by Jeffrey Epstein, court documents showed Friday.
While the bank continues to deny supporting Epstein's crimes, it said the resolution allows it to put the matter behind it and provides further closure for the plaintiffs.
The suit, filed by an unidentified woman on behalf of herself and other alleged victims, claimed the bank's executives ignored red flags about Epstein's sex trafficking venture to provide him with banking and investment services.
The settlement, if approved in court, would avoid a potentially lengthy trial process and was deemed to be in the best interests of the plaintiffs.
This is the latest bank to settle lawsuits from Epstein's alleged victims, following $75 million agreements by JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank in 2023.
Epstein, a billionaire hedge fund manager with powerful and celebrity friends, was charged with sex trafficking of minors after being arrested in July 2019.
He had already been convicted in 2008 of soliciting sex from girls as young as 14.
Epstein committed suicide while being held at Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center in August 2019.
His case has remained politically charged, with disputes over the release of investigative records and the extent of his network.
