Epstein Estate Will Pay $35M To Settle Advisers’ Sex Trafficking Case
A US judge has given preliminary approval to a $35 million settlement from the Epstein estate, addressing claims made against his advisers.
A US judge has given preliminary approval to a settlement in which the estate of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein will pay up to $35 million to settle a class action lawsuit that alleges two of his longtime advisers assisted in his sex trafficking of young women and teenage girls.
The agreement, revealed on 19 February by the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner, was characterized as equitable by U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, based in Manhattan, during a hearing on Tuesday. The judge has set 16 September for the final approval hearing.
The settlement would conclude a 2024 lawsuit initiated against Epstein’s former personal lawyer, Darren Indyke, and former accountant, Richard Kahn, who act as co-executors of his estate.
Epstein’s estate had earlier set up a restitution fund that disbursed $121 million to victims and also finalized further settlements amounting to $49 million.
Daniel Weiner, an attorney for Indyke and Kahn, stated that the settlement should not be interpreted as an admission of guilt.
“The co-executors, having done nothing wrong, were ready to contest the claims against them all the way to trial. However, they chose to mediate and settle this lawsuit to bring finality to any potential claims against the Epstein Estate,” Weiner stated.
Sigrid McCawley, the attorney who initiated the case, expressed her approval of the recent development.
“We are glad to have made progress on that lengthy journey for the survivors and to offer a measure of justice,” she stated.
In August 2019, Epstein passed away in a jail located in New York. His death was determined to be a suicide.
This year, millions of documents released by the Justice Department from its investigation into Epstein have illuminated his social ties to influential and affluent individuals globally.
In the 2024 lawsuit, attorneys at Boies Schiller Flexner claimed that Indyke and Kahn assisted Epstein in establishing a complicated network of corporations and bank accounts, which allowed him to hide his abuses and facilitate payments to victims and recruiters. The lawsuit stated that the pair received substantial compensation for their work.
