As part of a sprawling lawsuit against Bank of America, lawyers for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims will be able to depose one of the most important figures in the sex-trafficker’s financial life: Leon Black.
But Black can delay his lawsuit for 10 days, a judge ruled Wednesday.
It wasn’t publicly known that Black — the billionaire former CEO of Apollo Global Management — would be forced to sit for a deposition until US District Judge Jed Rakoff scheduled the hearing earlier Wednesday to determine whether he could delay it.
Michael Carlinsky, an attorney at the law firm Quinn Emmanuel representing Black, told the judge that the deposition should be delayed because there’s a chance the lawsuit will soon be settled, making it unnecessary.
“My understanding is the parties are very close to resolving this dispute,” Carlinsky told Rakoff.
Representatives for Bank of America and attorneys representing Epstein victims had no immediate comment on a possible settlement. A representative for Black, who has denied knowledge of Epstein’s sex trafficking operation, also declined to address settlement talks.
Black transferred Epstein over $150 million between 2012 and 2017, which he has said were payments for financial services that included tax and estate-planning advice.
The proposed class-action lawsuit brought by Epstein victims alleges the Black’s funds were used to facilitate Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation. Bank of America, which housed Black’s financial entities, should have more closely scrutinized the accounts and transactions related to Epstein, the lawsuit says.
Similar lawsuits brought against JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank have settled, obtaining hundreds of millions of dollars for Epstein’s victims.
In January, Rakoff dismissed a portion of the lawsuit against Bank of America and entirely tossed a parallel lawsuit filed against BNY, also known as Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
In Wednesday’s hearing, Rakoff set some parameters for Black’s deposition. He said it could take up to 8 hours, with 5 hours for victims’ lawyers and 3 for Bank of America lawyers.
The deposition, originally scheduled for March 16, will instead begin on March 26, Rakoff ruled.
As a condition of the ruling, Carlinsky said he wouldn’t ask for any additional delays on Black’s behalf.
Black has also been asked to appear for a May 13 deposition before the House Oversight Committee, which is investigating Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after a jury found she trafficked girls to Epstein for sex. Epstein died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges against him.
“Mr. Black paid Epstein for tax and estate planning work and he had no awareness of Epstein’s criminal activity,” Whit Clay, a spokesperson for Black, told Business Insider. “He looks forward to answering the committee’s questions, providing additional clarity and furthering their work.”
On Wednesday, the House Oversight Committee deposed Richard Kahn, Epstein’s longtime personal accountant and a co-executor of his estate, which was valued at $630 million at the time of his death.
Kahn said Epstein had five clients who paid him for financial services, which included Black, House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer told journalists during a break. Epstein’s other clients included former L Brands CEO Les Wexner, former Microsoft executive Steven Sinofsky, “the Rothschilds,” and billionaire hedge fund manager Glenn Dubin, Comer said.