The compensation fund set up for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims paid out nearly $121 million before it ended Monday — on the eve of the two-year anniversary of the pedophile’s death.
The case’s Victims’ Compensation Program began distributing money a little more than a year ago and made offers totaling nearly $125 million to about 150 women — with the fund ultimately paying out $121 million, according to fund administrator Jordana Feldman.
If victims opted to accept the fund’s offer to them, they had to sign a release not to bring more legal action against the estate.
Epstein was awaiting trial on sex-trafficking and other charges when authorities say the sick multimillionaire financier hanged himself in a Lower Manhattan jail cell Aug. 10, 2019.
The compensation program for Epstein’s sex-abuse victims received around 225 claims, of which 150 were deemed credible and given offers in varying amounts. About 92 percent of the victims who received offers accepted them, the administrator said.
Epstein’s estate — which at its peak was valued around $634 million — funded the program but had no say in determining which cases were credible and the amount of the offers.
Feldman emphasized it was a confidential and impartial process that allowed the women to resolve their claims outside of the public scrutiny of a court case and which also saved them the cost 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 am proud of what we were able to accomplish with this Program, but also recognize that no amount of money will erase the years of pain these victims have endured because of Jeffrey Epstein,” Feldman said. “My hope is that the Program provided his victims a meaningful measure of justice and a step on the path toward healing.”
Some of Epstein’s victims are still choosing to fight their cases in court.
