- New York state financial regulators said that Deutsche Bank has agreed to a $150 million penalty in relationship to the bank's lack of oversight in dealings with accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, the now-dead investor.
- Epstein, who died in what has been ruled a suicide while in jail, was a former friend of Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, as well as Prince Andrew.
- His alleged procurer and former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, was arrested on federal charges in New Hampshire in early July.
A Deutsche Bank AG flag flies outside the company's office on Wall Street in New York.Mark Kauzlarich | Bloomberg | Getty Images
New York state financial regulators said Tuesday that they have slapped Deutsche Bank with a $150 million penalty "for significant compliance failures" in the bank's dealings with accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, the now-dead investor.
The New York State Department of Financial Services said that Deutsche Bank, which agreed to the payment under a consent order, "failed to properly monitor account activity conducted on behalf of the registered sex offender despite ample information that was publicly available concerning the circumstances surrounding Mr. Epstein's earlier criminal misconduct."
The department said that because of the bank's oversight failure, the "bank processed hundreds of transactions totaling millions of dollars that, at the very least, should have prompted additional scrutiny in light of Mr. Epstein's history."
Those transactions include payments to people who were publicly alleged to have been Epstein's co-conspirators in sexually abusing young women, and settlements totaling more than $7 million and payments to law firms of more than $6 million "for what appear to have been the legal expenses of Mr. Epstein and his co-conspirators," the department said.
Other payments were made "to Russian models, payments for women's school tuition, hotel and rent expenses, and (consistent with public allegations of prior wrongdoing) payments directly to numerous women with Eastern European surnames," according to the department.
Also noted were Epstein's "periodic suspicious cash withdrawals — in total, more than $800,000 over approximately four years," the department said.
U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services' sex offender registry March 28, 2017 and obtained by Reuters July 10, 2019.New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services | Handout | Reuters
The state said it was the first enforcement action by a regulator against a financial institution for dealings with Epstein.
The consent order covers Deutsche Bank's relationship with Epstein, and correspondent banking relationships with Danske Bank Estonia and FBME Bank.
State Financial Services Superintendent Linda Lacewell said in a prepared statement, "In each of the cases that are being resolved today, Deutsche Bank failed to adequately monitor the activity of customers that the Bank itself deemed to be high risk."
"In the case of Jeffrey Epstein in particular, despite knowing Mr. Epstein's terrible criminal history, the Bank inexcusably failed to detect or prevent millions of dollars of suspicious transactions," Lacewell said.
Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing, in an internal communication to all bank staff about the settlement said, "Today serves as a reminder of how vigilant we must remain."
"It not only marks the anniversary of our 'Compete to Win' strategy, but also our settlement just announced with the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS), resolving investigations into our controls and processes in the fight against financial crime," Sewing said.
He noted that "the settlement covers three issues: Danske Bank, the Federal Bank of the Middle East and our former business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein."
"Onboarding the latter as a client in 2013 was a critical mistake and should never have happened," the CEO said.
A Deutsche Bank spokesman said, "We acknowledge our error of onboarding Epstein in 2013 and the weaknesses in our processes, and have learnt from our mistakes and shortcomings."
The spokesman said that immediately after Epstein's arrest on child sex trafficking charges in July 2019, the bank "contacted law enforcement and offered our full assistance with their investigation."
We have been fully transparent and have addressed these matters with our regulator, adjusted our risk tolerance and systematically tackled the issues," the spokesman said.
Epstein, 66, died last August in a federal jail in Manhattan from what authorities ruled was a suicide by hanging after being denied bail in his criminal case, where he was charged with child sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit child sex trafficking.
The multi-millionaire investor was a former friend of Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, as well as of Britain's Prince Andrew.
VIDEO0:5800:58NBC archive footage shows Trump partying with Jeffrey Epstein in 1992News Videos
He also was a registered sex offender, having pleaded guilty to Florida state charges in 2008, one of which was related to paying for sexual services from an underage girl. Epstein served 13 months in jail in that case, albeit much of the time free on work release.
Last week, Epstein's alleged procurer and former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, was arrested on federal charges while holed up at a $1 million getaway in New Hampshire.
Prosecutors in New York say that in the mid-1990, Maxwell helped Epstein get access to and groom underag girls o they could be sexually abused by him, and sometimes with her participation. At least one of the girls was 14 years old, court papers say.
Maxwell, 58, was transported by authorities to New York City. Her first court appearance in Manhattan federal court is set for July 14.
She is currently being held in a federal jail in Brooklyn pending a decision on whether she should be granted bail. Prosecutors want her held without bail, calling her an extreme flight risk.
This is breaking news. Check back for updates.
Source: cnbc.com