At least one longtime victim of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse who received a monetary settlement from his estate may also pursue separate claims against two powerful former Wall Street executives related to the convicted sex offender offender, according to two people briefed on the matter.
Richard Kahn, an executor of Mr. Epstein’s estate, testified in a deposition in May that the victim’s settlement included a “carve-out” provision involving Leon Black, a private equity billionaire investor, and James E. Staley, a former top executive at JPMorgan Chase and Barclays, said the people, who were briefed on the deposition and spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The exceptions made for Mr. Black and Mr. Staley shows how both men are constantly tormented by their social and business dealings with Mr. Epstein four years after he committed suicide in a federal prison while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The settlement could set a precedent for Mr. Epstein’s other victims, potentially exposing Mr. Black and Mr. Staley on more scrutiny and accountability.
“He was a victim, potentially, of these individuals,” Mr. Kahn said in the deposition, according to one of the people. Mr. Kahn said Mr. Epstein’s estate had agreed to the carve-out provision so that the unnamed woman could sue for “damages she suffered.”
In the deposition, Mr. Kahn, who was Mr. Epstein’s longtime accountant, said at least one other victim had sought a similar cut from the estate, according to the person. He suggested in testimony, without giving details, that other victims might seek provisions regarding other men, the person said.
It is not clear from the deposition of Mr. Kahn if any of the women pursued claims against Mr. Black or Mr. Staley, or what their specific claims are, people said about the deposition.
In settling the victims’ claims, Mr. Epstein’s estate sought to limit the potential for litigation against anyone related to Mr. Epstein. A settlement carve out gives a victim a limited exemption from such a broad exemption to pursue other litigation.
Both Mr. Black, a co-founder of private equity firm Apollo Global Management, and Mr. Staley became frequent visitors to the residence of Mr. Epstein in Manhattan. Mr. paid Black to Mr. Epstein of $158 million for tax and estate planning services — the larger payments are now drawing scrutiny from the Senate Finance Committee.
Susan Estrich, a lawyer for Mr. Black, that the leak of the deposition testimony of Mr. Kahn is “groundless character assassination” involving “unknown women who never press charges against Mr. Black.”
Lawyers for Mr. Staley did not respond to a request for comment. A lawyer for Mr. Kahn declined to comment.
The deposition from Mr. Kahn is related to a class-action lawsuit filed last year by Mr. Epstein’s victims against JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s largest bank, and a related lawsuit against the U.S. bank Virgin Islands.
The lawsuits allege that the bank turned a blind eye to Mr. Epstein’s trafficking of teenage girls and young women to and from his residences in the Virgin Islands, Manhattan, Florida and New Mexico because he was a wealthy clientele with celebrities and powerful friend
In June, JPMorgan agreed to pay $290 million to settle the class-action lawsuit, but it continues to contest the Virgin Islands’ lawsuit, which is seeking $190 million in damages. JPMorgan also filed Mr. Staley in connection with that suit, saying he could be held liable for damages.
In a court filing Monday, JPMorgan said it continued to do business with Mr. Epstein because it relied on Mr. Staley’s “representations that Epstein had ‘turned the page’ on his past behavior” — a reference to Mr. Epstein’s 2008 conviction in Florida of soliciting prostitution from a teenage girl.
An internal review of Mr. Staley’s company emails, conducted by JPMorgan following Mr. Epstein’s arrest in 2019, found that the two men shared sexually suggestive emails.
Lawyers for Mr. Staley, in court papers, said he had done nothing wrong and had no knowledge of any sex trafficking by Mr. Epstein.
In 2021, Mr. resigned. Black as chairman and chief executive of Apollo because of his relationship with Mr. Epstein. This year, he quietly agreed to pay $62.5 million to the Virgin Islands to stop a potential lawsuit that would have claimed his huge payments to Mr. Epstein who helped finance his sex trafficking operation in US territory.
Mr. Black is also being sued by two other women who say he nearly raped them two decades past the Manhattan townhouse of Mr. Epstein. Ms. called Estrich called those allegations “false and frivolous.”
Lawyers for Mr. Epstein’s victims have estimated that he sexually abused hundreds of teenage girls and young women over two decades. More than 125 women received $153 million in settlement payments from either a restitution fund set up by the estate or in deals negotiated directly by the estate — as was the case with the two women who asked Mr . Kahn in his deposition.
