Deutsche Bank has been slapped with a $150 million fine by New York state regulators for failing to act on warning signs that Jeffrey Epstein was carrying out suspicious payments, among other violations. In a press release, New York’s Superintendent of Financial Services Linda Lacewell announced the fine Tuesday for “significant compliance failures” in relation to Epstein and his suspicious transfers. “Despite knowing Mr. Epstein’s terrible criminal history, the bank inexcusably failed to detect or prevent millions of dollars of suspicious transactions,” said Lacewell. The bank processed millions of dollars in transactions that the department said should have prompted “additional scrutiny” because of Epstein’s criminal history. Those include payments to people who were publicly alleged to have been Epstein’s co-conspirators in sexually abusing young women, as well as payments to Russian models and school tuition money for his victims. TheNew York Times reports that regulators praised the bank for providing “exemplary cooperation” during the investigation, and said that it has now cut ties with other high-risk clients.
