JPMorgan, BNY Accused Of Supporting Epstein’s Sex Trafficking Operations
Key Takeaways
- Bank of America and Bank of New York Mellon are facing new class action lawsuits alleging they financially benefited from and supported Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking ring.
- The lawsuits claim the banks 'knowingly' provided financial support and failed to alert law enforcement about Epstein's criminal activities.
- One accuser alleged that an account opened at Bank of America under her direction was used by Epstein as late as 2019, after his death.
- BNY Mellon is accused of processing $378 million in payments related to Epstein’s sex trafficking victims.
- These suits follow large settlements reached in 2023 by JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank over similar allegations concerning their facilitation of Epstein's finances.
Two new class action lawsuits were filed on Wednesday, alleging that Bank of America and Bank of New York Mellon chose profit over protecting victims of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by financially supporting his sex trafficking operation. The lawsuits, filed by a Jane Doe who met Epstein in 2011, claim the banks knowingly provided financial support to Epstein and his co-conspirators while failing to alert law enforcement about his crimes. Doe specifically alleged that Epstein’s accountant directed her to open a Bank of America account that was later used by Epstein as late as 2019. BNY Mellon is accused of processing $378 million in payments related to Epstein’s victims, while BofA has yet to comment. These legal actions are the latest targeting major banks, empowered by the 2023 settlements reached by JPMorgan Chase ($290 million) and Deutsche Bank ($75 million) with other alleged victims. The lawsuits surface shortly after House Judiciary Committee Republicans blocked an effort to subpoena CEOs from these four major banks regarding suspicious transactions linked to Epstein.
