A group of women who accused Jeffrey Epstein of sexual abuse have sued the banks this Thursday Deutsche Bank y JPMorgan “for facilitating the sex trafficking operation” of the friend of the prince andrew and “for ignoring red flags” about his wealthy client.
The two lawsuits, seeking class action certification, were filed separately in a New York court, reports The Wall Street Journal.
JPMorgan, the largest bank in the United States, is accused of “financially profiting” from alleged sex trafficking through the provision of financial support from 1998 to August 2013 to Epstein. Deutsche Bank, for its part, knowing that he would “earn millions of dollars” from his relationship with the businessman.
“Epstein and his co-conspirators could not have acted without the help of wealthy individuals and financial institutions. These victims were harmed by many, not just Epstein. He did not act alone,” said Bradley Edwards, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys. .
In 2020, Deutsche Bank was already sentenced to pay 150 million dollars (133 million euros) in fines as a result of the “significant failures” of the entity in the supervision of Jeffrey Epstein’s accounts. The New York State Department of Financial Services cited “various payments to Russian models, as well as the payment of school fees to women, hotel and rent expenses, and income to numerous women with Eastern European surnames; as well as withdrawals from periodic cash payments in the amount of more than $800,000 over four years.
Epstein was found dead in his US jail cell in 2019, after being arrested and charged with sex trafficking. The tycoon spent decades cultivating ties with American and British elites, including the queen’s son Isabel II, Prince Andrew. The Duke of York paid with the withdrawal of his royal titles for his friendship with the former de Ghislaine Maxwell.
The anonymous plaintiffs are also represented by David Boies, who represented Virginia Giuffre in the case of sexual abuse against the brother of Charles III, which was later resolved with an agreement of 14 million euros.