At least one longtime sexual abuse sufferer of Jeffrey Epstein who acquired a financial settlement from his property can even pursue separate claims in opposition to two highly effective former Wall Street executives who had ties to the convicted intercourse offender, in keeping with two folks briefed on the matter.
Richard Kahn, an executor of Mr. Epstein’s property, testified in a deposition in May that the sufferer’s settlement included a “carve out” provision involving Leon Black, a billionaire personal fairness investor, and James E. Staley, a former prime government at JPMorgan Chase and Barclays, stated the folks, who had been briefed on the deposition and spoke on the situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t approved to publicly focus on the matter.
The exceptions made for Mr. Black and Mr. Staley present how the 2 males proceed to be dogged by their social and business dealings with Mr. Epstein 4 years after he killed himself in a federal jail whereas awaiting trial on intercourse trafficking costs. The association may set a precedent for different victims of Mr. Epstein, probably exposing Mr. Black and Mr. Staley to additional scrutiny and legal responsibility.
“She was a victim, potentially, to these individuals,” Mr. Kahn stated within the deposition, in keeping with one of many folks. Mr. Kahn stated that Mr. Epstein’s property agreed to the carve-out provision in order that the unnamed lady may probably sue for “harms that she incurred.”
In the deposition, Mr. Kahn, who was Mr. Epstein’s longtime accountant, stated at the very least one different sufferer had sought the same carve out from the property, in keeping with the particular person. He instructed within the testimony, with out offering particulars, that different victims may need requested for the availability with regard to different males, the particular person stated.
It was unclear from Mr. Kahn’s deposition whether or not both of the ladies had pursued claims in opposition to Mr. Black or Mr. Staley, or what their particular claims may be, the folks briefed on the deposition stated.
In settling claims with victims, Mr. Epstein’s property had sought to restrict the potential for litigation in opposition to anybody with ties to Mr. Epstein. A settlement carve out offers a sufferer with a restricted exception from such a broad launch to pursue different litigation.
Both Mr. Black, a co-founder of the personal fairness agency Apollo Global Management, and Mr. Staley had been frequent guests to Mr. Epstein’s Manhattan residence. Mr. Black paid Mr. Epstein $158 million for tax and property planning providers — outsize funds that at the moment are drawing scrutiny from the Senate Finance Committee.
Susan Estrich, a lawyer for Mr. Black, stated the leak of Mr. Kahn’s deposition testimony “is baseless character assassination” involving “anonymous women who have never brought a claim against Mr. Black.”
Lawyers for Mr. Staley didn’t reply to a request for remark. A lawyer for Mr. Kahn declined to remark.
The deposition from Mr. Kahn was in reference to a class-action lawsuit filed final yr by Mr. Epstein’s victims in opposition to JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s largest financial institution, and a associated lawsuit in opposition to the financial institution by the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The lawsuits contend that the financial institution turned a blind eye to Mr. Epstein’s trafficking of teenage ladies and younger girls to and from his residences within the Virgin Islands, Manhattan, Florida and New Mexico as a result of he was a rich consumer with well-known and highly effective pals.
In June, JPMorgan agreed to pay $290 million to settle the class-action lawsuit, however it continues to contest the go well with by the Virgin Islands, which seeks $190 million in damages. JPMorgan can be suing Mr. Staley in reference to that go well with, claiming he may very well be responsible for damages.
In a court docket submitting on Monday, JPMorgan stated it continued to do business with Mr. Epstein as a result of it relied on Mr. Staley’s “representations that Epstein had ‘turned the page’ on his past conduct” — a reference to Mr. Epstein’s 2008 conviction in Florida of soliciting prostitution from a teenage lady.
An inner evaluate of Mr. Staley’s firm emails, performed by JPMorgan following Mr. Epstein’s 2019 arrest, discovered that the 2 males had shared sexually suggestive emails.
Lawyers for Mr. Staley, in court docket papers, have stated he did nothing improper and was unaware of any intercourse trafficking by Mr. Epstein.
In 2021, Mr. Black resigned as chairman and chief government of Apollo over his ties to Mr. Epstein. This yr, he quietly agreed to pay $62.5 million to the Virgin Islands to go off a possible lawsuit that might have claimed his massive funds to Mr. Epstein helped finance his intercourse trafficking operation within the U.S. territory.
Mr. Black can be being sued by two different girls who say they had been raped by him roughly 20 years in the past at Mr. Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse. Ms. Estrich referred to as these allegations “false and frivolous.”
Lawyers for Mr. Epstein’s victims have estimated that he sexually abused lots of of teenage ladies and younger girls over 20 years. More than 125 girls have acquired $153 million in settlement funds from both a restitution fund arrange by the property or in offers negotiated instantly by the property — as was the case with the 2 girls Mr. Kahn was requested about throughout his deposition.
Source: www.nytimes.com