SANTA FE, N.M. — Deutsche Bank committed nearly $5 million in financing Thursday to help combat human trafficking in New Mexico, the bank announced in a joint statement with Attorney General Raúl Torrez.
The announcement comes seven months after Deutsche Bank settled a US lawsuit for $75 million, claiming the German lender should have seen evidence that the late Jeffrey Epstein engaged in sex trafficking when he was a client.
Torrez's office has been investigating several financial services companies and their role in what he says is the failure to identify sexual abuse and trafficking of underage girls at Epstein's Santa Fe County ranch, the statement said.
“I am pleased that Deutsche Bank recognizes its ongoing responsibility to help us combat this problem,” Torrez, a Democrat, said in the statement. “We appreciate the steps they have taken since terminating Jeffrey Epstein as a client in 2018 to strengthen their surveillance capabilities and plan to use their commitment to support our ongoing efforts to arrest human traffickers and expand our victim services.”
A Deutsche Bank spokesperson said the lender is pleased to support Torrez “in this important effort, which reflects our industry's shared responsibility to play an active role in protecting the financial system.”
A woman who alleged she was abused by Epstein had filed a lawsuit against the bank in New York, seeking class-action status. She alleged that the bank knowingly profited from Epstein's sex trafficking and “chose profit over following the law” to make millions of dollars from the businessman. The settlement was reached in May.
In 2020, the bank acknowledged its mistake in taking on Epstein as a client. Epstein committed suicide in prison in August 2019 while facing federal criminal charges of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls.