On October 15, 2025, a fresh wave of legal action hit two of America’s largest financial institutions, as women who say they survived Jeffrey Epstein’s years-long abuse filed class-action lawsuits against Bank of America and Bank of New York Mellon in Manhattan federal court. The suits, brought on behalf of an anonymous plaintiff known as Jane Doe and a proposed class of other alleged victims, accuse the banks of turning a blind eye—and even providing support—to Epstein’s sprawling international sex-trafficking operation, all in pursuit of profit.
The complaints, which follow closely on the heels of settlements with other major banks, allege that Bank of America and BNY Mellon maintained relationships with Epstein and his associates, failed to raise red flags about suspicious transactions, and ignored mounting evidence of his crimes until well after his death in 2019. According to the filings, these institutions prioritized financial gain over compliance with the law and protection of vulnerable young women.
Jane Doe’s lawsuit, as reported by The New York Daily News and The New York Post, paints a harrowing picture. She alleges that Epstein sexually abused her at least 100 times between 2011 and 2019, a period during which she was forced to engage in sexual acts with other women. The suit describes in graphic detail the violence and manipulation she endured, stating, “From 2011 through 2019, Epstein sexually abused Jane Doe on at least 100 occasions, including but not limited to, forcibly touching her, forcibly raping her, and forcing her to engage in sexual acts with other women for his own depraved sexual gratification.”
The scale of Epstein’s alleged abuse is staggering. The suit cites previous reports that “Epstein had been sexually abusing three to four young females per day,” describing his crimes as a “full-time job.” Jane Doe, who first met Epstein in Russia in 2011, says she opened a Bank of America account in May 2013 at the instruction of Epstein’s accountant, Richard Kahn. The account, and others in her name, were used by Epstein and Kahn for unexplained activities until 2019, the year Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
But the lawsuits go beyond Jane Doe’s story, alleging systemic failures at the banks. Both Bank of America and BNY Mellon are accused of ignoring a “plethora” of evidence that Epstein was running a sex-trafficking scheme, choosing instead to profit from their relationship with him. The suits claim the banks “knowingly provided the financial support and the veneer of institutional legitimacy for Epstein and his co-conspirators to fuel their international sex-trafficking organization under the guise of noncriminal business activities.”
“Both banks cared about one thing—profit—and showed absolute loyalty to Epstein,” the complaints charge. The legal filings cite the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which allows victims to sue not only traffickers but anyone who “knowingly benefits” from a sex-trafficking venture. The suits also include related tort claims under New York law.
The lawsuit against BNY Mellon specifically alleges that the bank provided a line of credit to MC2, a modeling agency established by Epstein and French model scout Jean-Luc Brunel. According to the complaint, BNY Mellon processed $378 million in payments to women trafficked by Epstein through MC2. Brunel, who was himself facing sex-trafficking charges, died in a Paris jail cell in February 2022 under circumstances eerily similar to Epstein’s own death.
Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) revealed last month that both banks only filed suspicious activity reports—known as SARs—after Epstein’s 2019 arrest, years after the transactions occurred. Bank of America’s SARs flagged $170 million in transactions between Epstein and Wall Street billionaire Leon Black. BNY Mellon’s reports highlighted $378 million in payments to women trafficked by Epstein. “It is sad that only through lawsuits and Congress are we able to bring justice to this obvious problem,” attorney Brad Edwards, who represents many Epstein victims, told The Wall Street Journal.
House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has also entered the fray, recently sending letters to the CEOs of BNY Mellon, Bank of America, JPMorgan, and Deutsche Bank. He demanded explanations for how Epstein and his associates were able to move more than $1.5 billion in suspicious transactions for years without detection. Congress has even considered issuing subpoenas, as internal memos revealed repeated delays in reporting large transfers tied to Epstein’s network.
Jane Doe’s complaint argues that by 2006, “everyone knew or should have known at least after 2006 that Epstein was running a sex-trafficking scheme paying many victims with enormous amounts of cash as well as suspicious wire transfers, and that he was using loyal employees to do so.” The suit maintains that Bank of America could no longer plausibly claim ignorance after Epstein was required to register as a sex offender that year.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs, including Brad Edwards and Sigrid McCawley, emphasized the broader significance of the cases. “These cases are vitally important to ensure that our financial institutions are no longer used by sex traffickers such as Jeffrey Epstein and instead comply with all KYC and other regulatory standards to protect victims from wealthy perpetrators. Our clients deserve full and final justice from all institutions Epstein used to effectuate his abuse,” Edwards said in a statement to The Daily News. McCawley added, “As Congress works toward unraveling how Jeffrey Epstein was able to orchestrate his criminal sex-trafficking enterprise for decades without detection, we are taking another important step forward toward justice for survivors.”
The lawsuits follow similar actions against JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, which settled with Epstein victims for $290 million and $75 million, respectively, in 2023. Neither bank admitted any wrongdoing in those settlements. Yet, the legal and political pressure on financial institutions continues to mount. Epstein’s estate has provided Congress with a list of more than 20 banks that held accounts for him or related entities, underscoring the extensive reach of his financial web.
Bank of America and BNY Mellon have so far declined to comment on the latest suits. But the public scrutiny is unlikely to fade soon. Senate investigators have demanded that Bank of America explain how it handled Epstein-related transactions, especially given that the bank processed such payments through at least 2018 despite internal warnings about cash withdrawals and transfers to accounts linked to young women.
Senator Wyden, in a letter released this month, called on financial institutions to “show the public they are not shielding the powerful and connected from accountability.” He urged the Treasury Department to release all Epstein-related financial records that remain under seal, signaling that the search for answers—and accountability—remains very much alive.
As the lawsuits wind their way through the courts, the message from survivors and their advocates is clear: financial institutions must be held to account for their role in enabling one of the most notorious sex-trafficking operations in recent history. Whether the banks will ultimately be found liable, and what further revelations may emerge, remains to be seen. For now, the legal battle marks yet another chapter in the ongoing reckoning with the Epstein scandal and the systems that allowed it to persist for so long.
