A US judge has granted preliminary approval to a settlement under which the estate of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein will pay up to $35 million to resolve a class action lawsuit accusing two of his long-time advisers of aiding and abetting his sex trafficking of young women and teenage girls.
The agreement, announced on 19 February by law firm Boies Schiller Flexner, was described as fair by Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian during a hearing on Tuesday. The judge scheduled 16 September for a final approval hearing.
The settlement would bring to an end a 2024 lawsuit filed against Epstein’s former personal lawyer, Darren Indyke, and former accountant, Richard Kahn, who serve as co-executors of his estate.
Epstein’s estate had previously established a restitution fund that paid out $121 million to victims, and also reached additional settlements totalling $49 million.
Daniel Weiner, a lawyer representing Indyke and Kahn, said the settlement did not amount to an admission of wrongdoing.
“Because they did nothing wrong, the co-executors were prepared to fight the claims against them through to trial, but agreed to mediate and settle this lawsuit in order to achieve finality as to any potential claims against the Epstein Estate,” Weiner said in a statement.
Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer who brought the case, welcomed the development.
“We are pleased we could take another step forward on that long road for the survivors and provide some sort of justice,” she said in a statement.
Epstein died in a New York jail in August 2019. His death was ruled a suicide.
Millions of documents released this year by the Justice Department from its investigation into Epstein have shed further light on his social connections to wealthy and powerful figures around the world.
In the 2024 lawsuit, lawyers at Boies Schiller Flexner alleged that Indyke and Kahn helped Epstein create a complex web of corporations and bank accounts that enabled him to conceal his abuses and make payments to victims and recruiters. The pair were “richly compensated” for their work, the lawsuit said.
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