Bank of America settles Epstein survivors' suit for $72.5 million
Bank of America agrees to pay $72.5 million to settle claims that it ignored some $170 million in suspicious Epstein-linked transactions — the third major bank to settle with his victims, bringing the banks' combined payouts to roughly $437 million even as no new criminal charges follow.
On March 27, 2026, Bank of America agreed to pay $72.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought on behalf of Jeffrey Epstein’s survivors. The suit alleged that the bank had processed roughly $170 million in transactions tied to Epstein’s trafficking operation while failing to file the suspicious-activity reports required under federal anti-money-laundering law.
The Allegations
Plaintiffs argued that Bank of America had ample reason to scrutinize Epstein’s accounts — his 2008 conviction, the structured payments to young women, the well-documented red flags — yet kept providing full banking services that helped sustain the operation. The bank did not admit wrongdoing, saying it settled to avoid the cost and distraction of prolonged litigation. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff granted preliminary approval, with a final fairness hearing set for August 27, 2026. The settlement class covers at least 60 women victimized between June 2008 and July 2019.
The Third Bank
Bank of America became the third major financial institution to settle Epstein-related litigation, following JPMorgan Chase’s $290 million settlement and Deutsche Bank’s $75 million settlement, both in 2023. Together the three banks agreed to pay survivors roughly $437 million.
The Enduring Contrast
The bank settlements demonstrated that the institutions surrounding Epstein could be held financially accountable through civil litigation. They also threw the criminal side into sharper relief. As lawmakers repeatedly noted through 2026, banks paid out hundreds of millions while the Justice Department, even after releasing millions of pages, indicted no new individuals — a gap between corporate liability and criminal accountability that defined the post-Transparency-Act period.