Leon Black, former CEO of Apollo Global Management and an affiliate of Jeffrey Epstein, was ordered to be deposed in a lawsuit introduced by ladies who allege that Bank of America facilitated and profited from Epstein’s sex-trafficking enterprise.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff dominated Wednesday in New York that Black will give sworn testimony later this month. The deposition is predicted to final up to eight hours, with 5 hours allotted for the victims’ authorized crew and three hours for Bank of America attorneys.
Black will not be a defendant in the suit against Bank of America. He has denied any wrongdoing or data of Epstein’s prison conduct.
It hadn’t been identified that Black would be deposed till Rakoff scheduled a convention name on the matter.
Black “is a critical witness in this case,” Sigrid McCawley, an legal professional for the victims, mentioned on the decision.
The lawsuit claims Bank of America turned a blind eye to suspicious transfers Black made to Epstein from his Bank of America account, together with $170 million for “tax and estate planning advice.”
The cash, the plaintiffs allege, was used to fund Epstein’s sex-trafficking enterprise.
In a earlier settlement settlement between Black and the U.S. Virgin Islands, they mentioned, “Epstein used the money Black paid him to partially fund his operations in the Virgin Islands.”
The deal was reached to keep away from potential claims over his ties to Epstein.
His deposition in the case had been set for Monday, nevertheless it was pushed again on the request of his legal professional, Michael Carlinsky.
“My understanding is the parties are very close to resolving this dispute,” Carlinsky informed the choose on the decision.
The victims’ authorized crew and Bank of America attorneys didn’t disclose any particulars a few attainable settlement on the decision.
Attorneys for the victims did not instantly reply to a request for remark. Bank of America and a spokesperson for Black declined to remark.
The lawsuit, filed final yr, alleges that Bank of America offered banking providers in reference to Epstein and his sex-trafficking group, in addition to financial institution accounts utilized by “Epstein’s co-conspirators, associates, and victims at Epstein’s direction,” together with Ghislaine Maxwell.
The plaintiffs declare the financial institution failed to correctly monitor accounts and did not file well timed suspicious exercise reviews regarding questionable transactions.
“This lawsuit seeks to hold Bank of America, N.A. civilly liable for the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein based on nothing more than allegations that it provided routine services to customers who at the time had no known connection to Epstein’s sex trafficking,” Bank of America mentioned in a earlier courtroom submitting.
Epstein victims have introduced related lawsuits against JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, which had been later settled for a whole lot of tens of millions of {dollars}.
