Overview
- U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff granted final approval on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, allowing the $72.5 million class-action settlement to move forward.
- The deal covers roughly 60 women who say they were trafficked or abused by Jeffrey Epstein or his associates between June 2008 and July 2019 and will let them seek compensation through the settlement process.
- Bank of America agreed to the March settlement while continuing to deny that it facilitated sex trafficking, saying the resolution permits the matter to be concluded.
- Rakoff rejected objections from some accusers who argued the agreement was overbroad and required them to release related claims without separate compensation, and he affirmed the settlement’s class scope despite differences among plaintiffs’ claims.
- The ruling follows earlier multi-bank payouts — including $290 million from JPMorgan Chase and $75 million from Deutsche Bank in 2023 — and leaves survivors with financial relief while broader questions about banks’ handling of suspicious Epstein-related transactions remain under scrutiny.