US judge says Bank of America’s alleged ‘reckless disregard’ supports Epstein lawsuit

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK, Feb 11 (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Wednesday said accusations Bank of America recklessly disregarded information that the late financier Jeffrey Epstein engaged in sex trafficking were sufficient to let a proposed class action lawsuit proceed.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff’s assessment came in an opinion explaining his January 29 decision to let Epstein victims pursue two claims accusing the nation’s second-largest bank of knowingly benefiting from Epstein’s sex trafficking, and of obstructing enforcement of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

The judge also dismissed four other claims against Bank of America, and all of a similar lawsuit against Bank of New York Mellon. He did not decide the merits of the remaining Bank of America claims.

Bank of America said on Wednesday it looked forward to a full review of the facts. Lawyers for the Epstein victims did not immediately respond to requests for comment after market hours.

A trial is scheduled for May 11.

Bank of America, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, had argued the Jane Doe plaintiff had “at best” alleged that it banked high net-worth clients affiliated with Epstein, and did not show it intentionally obstructed law enforcement.

JUDGE CITES ALLEGATIONS THAT BANK TURNED A BLIND EYE

In a 42-page opinion, however, Rakoff said Doe “plainly alleges” that Bank of America provided non-routine banking services to help Epstein.

The judge said these included letting Doe become a “premier” customer and transfer large sums of money, despite having “every reason to know” Epstein was involved in the transfers and in sex crimes.

Rakoff also said Doe plausibly alleged Bank of America “turned a blind eye” to media reports about the financier, and did not inquire into “the way large transfers passed in and out of an account allegedly owned by an impecunious young woman,” referring to Doe.

The judge also said Doe plausibly alleged that one bank employee, a former banker for Epstein at JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, had “direct personal knowledge” of Epstein’s sex trafficking for which Bank of America could be civilly liable.

Doe, who lives in Florida, claimed Bank of America and BNY did business with Epstein until his July 2019 arrest because making money mattered more than protecting victims.

Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell the following month while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. New York City’s medical examiner ruled the death a suicide.

In 2023, Doe’s lawyers reached settlements on behalf of other accusers of $290 million with JPMorgan Chase and $75 million with Deutsche Bank. Neither bank admitted wrongdoing.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Chris Reese)