Nearly 150 claimants received a total of $125 million as part of a sexual abuse compensation program funding relief to Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, according to the deceased hedge fund manager’s estate.
The fund, which was initiated on June 25, 2020, to support the dozens of women who claim Epstein sexually abused them, including while some of them were minors, has closed, with 92% of the approximately 225 eligible claimants accepting compensation from the estate.
“This important, independent Program allowed victims/survivors who were sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein 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,” the estate’s independent administrator, Jordana Feldman, said in a Monday news release announcing the end of the claims process.
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Feldman added that “no amount of money will erase the years of pain” victims have suffered and said that fund administrators sought to be open and transparent as the fund processed and paid claims, which the fund said generally took 60 to 90 days.
“Given the history of the Epstein case, we were also particularly mindful of the importance of providing claimants transparency into the claims process and offering them an opportunity to tell their stories,” Feldman said. “Every decision made and every action taken was rooted in these guiding principles.”
The compensation fund wasn’t administered completely without incident as it was briefly paused in February for its managers to secure more cash to pay claimants.
“Issuing a compensation offer that cannot be timely and fully funded and paid, consistent with the way the program has operated to date, would compromise claimants’ interests and the guiding principles of the program,” Feldman said at the time.
Epstein, who was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges, was found dead in his New York City prison cell two years ago this week on Aug. 10. The city’s medical examiner determined that he died by suicide.
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Epstein’s British former associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, was arrested on July 2, 2020, and was charged with conspiracy to entice minors, enticement of a minor, conspiracy to transport minors, transportation of a minor, and perjury for her alleged role in the sex trafficking scheme. Prosecutors brought two additional charges against Maxwell in March, accusing her of grooming and paying a 14-year-old girl to engage in sex with Epstein.
Maxwell’s criminal trial, which was originally scheduled to begin in July, was pushed back to November after her legal team successfully argued that they needed more time to prepare their defense in light of the additional charges.
