A woman alleging abuse by Jeffrey Epstein claims that major banks facilitated payments linked to his sex-trafficking network.
Published On 15 Oct 2025
A woman who asserts she was a victim of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse has filed a lawsuit against Bank of America and Bank of New York Mellon (BNY), accusing these financial institutions of knowingly supporting Epstein’s sex-trafficking enterprise through their banking services over several years.
Bank of America, the second-largest bank in the U.S., has declined to comment on the lawsuit, while BNY has yet to respond to requests for statements.
Identified as Jane Doe in court documents filed Wednesday, the plaintiff is pursuing undisclosed damages from both banks.
She is represented by the law firms Boies Schiller and Edwards Henderson, which previously negotiated settlements of $75 million and $290 million with Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase, respectively, over their alleged financial involvement with Epstein’s activities. Neither bank admitted liability in those settlements.
Congress Investigates Epstein’s Network
Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while in custody awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. The suspicious circumstances surrounding his death, combined with his connections to influential figures, have sparked ongoing speculation about broader complicity in his crimes.
The Epstein case has posed significant challenges for the Trump administration. Despite campaign promises in 2024 to release Department of Justice files related to Epstein’s investigation, the administration reversed its stance this year, drawing criticism from Trump’s conservative supporters and lawmakers.
Currently, the House Oversight Committee is conducting an inquiry into the Epstein case.
According to the lawsuits, Jane Doe met Epstein in 2011 while residing in Russia. She alleges that Epstein exploited her financially and sexually, subjecting her to rape, unwanted touching, and coercing her into sexual acts with other women over 100 times between 2011 and 2019.
“As Congress continues to uncover how Epstein managed to operate his criminal sex trafficking ring undetected for decades, this lawsuit marks a crucial advancement toward justice for survivors,” stated Sigrid McCawley, Jane Doe’s attorney.
Plaintiff Details Financial Connections to Epstein
Jane Doe claims she opened a Bank of America account in 2013 under the guidance of Richard Kahn, Epstein’s former accountant, who allegedly transferred rent payments to her through this account.
Requests for comment from Kahn’s legal representatives were not immediately returned.
In 2015, Doe says Kahn’s assistant informed her that Epstein was placing her on the payroll of a “shell company,” with payments routed through her Bank of America account, though she was unaware of the payments’ true nature.
Her legal team argues that these transactions should have triggered suspicion at Bank of America, especially given Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea to Florida state prostitution charges, which had allowed him to avoid federal prosecution.
The complaint against BNY alleges that the bank extended a line of credit to MC2, a modeling agency used by Epstein and French scout Jean-Luc Brunel to facilitate trafficking victims.
BNY is accused of processing $378 million in payments connected to Epstein’s trafficking operations.
Brunel was arrested in December 2020 and was found dead in jail in 2022, according to French prosecutors.
Both lawsuits contend that the banks failed to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) with the U.S. Treasury Department, which could have alerted authorities and potentially halted Epstein’s criminal activities earlier.
