Leon Black, former CEO of Apollo Global Management and an associate of Jeffrey Epstein, was ordered to be deposed in a lawsuit brought by women who allege that Bank of America facilitated and profited from Epstein’s sex-trafficking enterprise.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff ruled Wednesday in New York that Black will give sworn testimony later this month. The deposition is expected to last up to eight hours, with five hours allocated for the victims' legal team and three hours for Bank of America lawyers.
Black is not a defendant in the suit against Bank of America. He has denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein’s criminal conduct.
It hadn’t been known that Black would be deposed until Rakoff scheduled a conference call on the matter.
Black "is a critical witness in this case," Sigrid McCawley, an attorney for the victims, said on the call.
The lawsuit claims Bank of America turned a blind eye to suspicious transfers Black made to Epstein from his Bank of America account, including $170 million for “tax and estate planning advice.”
The money, the plaintiffs allege, was used to fund Epstein’s sex-trafficking enterprise.
In a previous settlement agreement between Black and the U.S. Virgin Islands, they said, "Epstein used the money Black paid him to partially fund his operations in the Virgin Islands."
The deal was reached to avoid potential claims over his ties to Epstein.
His deposition in the case had been set for Monday, but it was pushed back at the request of his attorney, Michael Carlinsky.
“My understanding is the parties are very close to resolving this dispute,” Carlinsky told the judge on the call.
The victims' legal team and Bank of America lawyers didn’t disclose any details about a possible settlement on the call.
Attorneys for the victims didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Bank of America and a spokesperson for Black declined to comment.
The lawsuit, filed last year, alleges that Bank of America provided banking services in connection with Epstein and his sex-trafficking organization, as well as bank accounts used by "Epstein’s co-conspirators, associates, and victims at Epstein’s direction," including Ghislaine Maxwell.
The plaintiffs claim the bank failed to properly monitor accounts and didn't file timely suspicious activity reports concerning 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 said in a previous court filing.
Epstein victims have brought similar lawsuits against JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, which were later settled for hundreds of millions of dollars.
