The banks in papers filed on Friday night in Manhattan federal court said they did not participate in or benefit from sex trafficking by their former client, and that the unnamed women failed to allege violations of a federal anti-trafficking law
The banks also said they had no duty to protect the women from Epstein and did not cause his abuses, requiring the dismissal of claims under a new law in New York that lets abuse victims sue even if statutes of limitations have expired.
Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The JPMorgan plaintiff is a former ballet dancer who said Epstein abused and trafficked her from 2006 to 2013, while the Deutsche Bank plaintiff said she suffered from similar misconduct between 2003 and 2018.New York State’s financial regulator in July 2020 fined Deutsche Bank $150 million over its relationship with Epstein.