$35M settlement between Epstein estate, accusers wins preliminary approval

A U.S. judge in New York on Tuesday granted preliminary approval to an agreement that requires Jeffrey Epstein’s estate to pay up to $35 million to settle a lawsuit that accused two of Epstein’s advisers of intentionally assisting and facilitating his sex trafficking of women and underage girls.

U.S district judge Arun Subramanian signed the preliminary approval document that stated the agreement was “fair, reasonable and adequate,” and that it would be subject to further consideration at a hearing on September 16. Boies Schiller Flexner, a law firm representing ​Epstein victims, announced the settlement in a brief filed on Feb. 19.

The final agreement, if approved by a judge, would settle a prior lawsuit filed in February 2024 against Epstein’s lawyer Darren Indyke and his accountant Richard Kahn. The disgraced financier signed a will that named Indyke and Kahn as co-executors of his estate, two days before he died by suicide in a New York jail while awaiting trial in 2019. 

In the initial lawsuit filed in 2024, victims of Epstein accused Indyke and Kahn of organizing “the complex financial infrastructure” that allowed Epstein to pay victims and recruiters in exchange for silence and leave himself and his associates “richly compensated.” 

The lawsuit also stated that the victims accused Epstein’s former lawyer and accountant of forcing Epstein’s sex trafficking victims into “arranged and forced sham marriages” in order to obtain immigration status “so that they could continue to be available to Epstein for his abuse.”

The preliminary approval document filed on Tuesday stated that the settlement agreement will resolve the claims of all females who were sexually assaulted, abused or trafficked by Epstein from Jan. 1, 1995, to Aug. 10, 2019.

Daniel H. Weiner, Indyke and Kahn’s lawyer, told Reuters in a statement that the settlement would provide “a confidential avenue for financial relief” for Epstein victims who have not already resolved claims against the estate.

Epstein’s Estate set up a fund in 2021 that allocated nearly $125 million to compensate Epstein’s victims. 

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