Leon Black agreed $62.5mn deal over potential Epstein-related claims

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Leon Black, the billionaire financier, reached a settlement with the government of the US Virgin Islands to resolve potential legal claims arising from his business relationship with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The settlement called for the Apollo Global Management founder to pay $62.5mn to the island territory, a person familiar with the situation said.

Black stepped down as chief executive of Apollo in 2021 after lawyers hired by the private equity firm concluded that he had paid $158mn to Epstein for tax advice, help with buying artwork, and other professional services.

Epstein’s death in 2019 while he was incarcerated in a federal prison in Manhattan was ruled a suicide. At the time, he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. He had previously served jail time in Florida after pleading guilty to soliciting sex from a minor.

Black “very much regrets” having “made payments to Epstein for legitimate financial advisory services,” a spokesperson for the billionaire said in a statement on Friday.

The settlement with the US Virgin Islands “resolved . . . potential claims arising out of the unintended consequences of those payments,” the statement added. “There is no suggestion in the USVI settlement that [Black] was aware of or participated in any misconduct.”

Black’s deal with US Virgin Islands authorities, which was first reported by The New York Times on Friday, follows a series of high-profile legal cases, some of which ended in financial firms paying large sums to settle claims relating to their relationship with Epstein.

Deutsche Bank in May agreed to pay up to $75mn to settle a lawsuit brought by an unnamed woman who also alleged the lender had benefited from human trafficking by retaining Epstein as a client.

The following month, JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay up to $290mn to settle another such lawsuit, which accused the bank of profiting from human trafficking by ignoring multiple internal warnings about their former client’s sex crimes. The bank did not admit liability as part of the settlement.

JPMorgan still faces trial in a separate lawsuit brought by the US Virgin Islands, which has said it will seek a payout of at least $190mn over claims that the bank facilitated human trafficking in the territory. JPMorgan has denied those allegations.

The US Virgin Islands said it would allocate money it received from enforcement actions “to enhancing and expanding its counselling and mental health services and preventing human trafficking”.