A fund set up to compensate victims of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein awarded almost $125 million to about 150 individuals, after receiving more than twice the number of claims its administrators expected.
Out of those claimants, 92%, or about 140 people, accepted the money they were offered, according to the Epstein Victims’ Compensation Fund, which concluded its claims process Monday.
Tuesday is the second anniversary of the day the 66-year-old Epstein was found dead in a federal jail in Manhattan while awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges. Authorities have ruled that he killed himself by hanging.
In addition to the dozens of then-underage girls who allegedly were trafficked by Epstein for his personal sexual desires, many other women have said they were sexually assaulted or exploited by the former friend of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, and Britain’s Prince Andrew.
Epstein’s estate did not have control over the decisions of who should get money from the fund or the amount people would receive.
The independent administrator of the fund, Jordana Feldman, said that since the fund launched, in June 2020, about 225 people made claims on it. Feldman had expected that 100 claims would be filed.
Feldman did not disclose why the claimants who were not awarded money were declared ineligible.
Epstein had pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to soliciting sexual services from an underage girl.
Women who received monetary settlements personally from him after that conviction, for which he served 13 months in jail, were allowed to apply for a payout from the victims fund.
Feldman said the fund allowed Epstein’s victims “to resolve their claims outside of court through a voluntary, confidential, fair, empathetic and expeditious process — beyond the glare of public proceedings and without the costs and confrontation of litigation.”
“Every claimant had an opportunity to be heard in a safe space, to share the intimate, personal, often harrowing accounts of what they endured and how it has affected them,” Feldman said in a statement. “I was continually struck by the resilience and courage of the victims who put their faith and trust in this process.”
Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell is due to go on trial in Manhattan federal court in November on charges that she recruited underage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein.
She has pleaded not guilty in the case and is being held without bond in a Brooklyn jail.
Source: Business - cnbc.com
