Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Epstein Survivors Win Class Certification Against FirstBank Puerto Rico (10/23/26)

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Epstein Survivors Win Class Certification Against FirstBank Puerto Rico (10/23/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. A couple of months ago we found out
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  Speaker 1: that the Epstein survivors had filed a lawsuit against First
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  Speaker 1: Bank down in Puerto Rico. And not only did they
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  Speaker 1: file a lawsuit against the bank, they were looking to
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  Speaker 1: make it a class action. Well, the judge has now
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  Speaker 1: certified that lawsuit as a class action. And of course,
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  Speaker 1: that's never good news for the bank. And according to
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: the bank, they plan on fighting these allegations. But we've
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  Speaker 1: heard that before. And my guess is, when all of
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  Speaker 1: the dust clears, they're going to enter into a settlement.
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  Speaker 1: Because the last thing they want to do is have
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  Speaker 1: a long, drawn-out process where they all get outed during
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  Speaker 1: depositions and discovery. That's not what they're looking to do.
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  Speaker 1: So they'll probably pay some sort of nominal fee and
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: keep it moving. At least if history is going to
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  Speaker 1: be a guide, right? Maybe this time it'll be different.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe this'll go all the way to trial, and we'll
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: see what's what. But I have my doubts. So with
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  Speaker 1: that said, let's dive into this article from Radar Online,
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  Speaker 1: and let's get caught up. Exclusive. Epstein victims score court
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  Speaker 1: victory as judge certifies new class action against bank accused
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  Speaker 1: of helping Epstein facilitate Predator's operation. This article was authored by...
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  Speaker 1: Ashlyn Walker. Jeffrey Epstein's alleged victims have scored a major
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  Speaker 1: legal victory after a federal judge certified a new class
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  Speaker 1: action lawsuit against a Puerto Rican bank accused of helping
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  Speaker 1: facilitate the late financier's sex trafficking operation, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
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  Speaker 1: According to court documents attained by Radar, U.S. District Judge
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  Speaker 1: Jed S. Rakoff granted class certification on October 20th in
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  Speaker 1: a lawsuit brought by Julia Malkanova against First Bank Puerto
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  Speaker 1: Rico and its parent company, First Bank Corp. And look,
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  Speaker 1: this is exactly how you get a settlement out of
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  Speaker 1: these banks. You press them. And we've seen the blueprint
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  Speaker 1: previously with JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, with Capital One, time
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  Speaker 1: and time again. And none of these banks, none of them,
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  Speaker 1: ever want to go to the mattresses. You would think
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  Speaker 1: that if anybody was going to do it, it would
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  Speaker 1: have been JP Morgan, right? Is there a bank with
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: more money, more power than JP Morgan? And they were
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  Speaker 1: forced to settle. And not for a few bucks, right?
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  Speaker 1: We're talking about big money. Close to a, what, billion
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  Speaker 1: dollars in settlements in total? With JP Morgan being on
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  Speaker 1: the line for about half of that? So not exactly
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  Speaker 1: the kind of thing the banks are usually happy to do, right?
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  Speaker 1: And if you bring a lawsuit against a bank, more
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  Speaker 1: times than not, they're going to fight that lawsuit tooth
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  Speaker 1: and nail to the very end. The ruling allows women
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  Speaker 1: allegedly abused or trafficked by Epstein between January 1st, 1998
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  Speaker 1: and August 10th, 2019 to pursue claims collectively against the
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  Speaker 1: financial institutions. In the two-page order, Rakoff declared, the court
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  Speaker 1: hereby grants Malkinova's motion and certifies the following class. All
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  Speaker 1: women who were abused or trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein at
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  Speaker 1: any time between January 1st, 1998, and August 10th, 2019.
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  Speaker 1: So that's quite a time frame. And any woman that
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  Speaker 1: was abused by him during that period can now jump
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  Speaker 1: onto this lawsuit and get themselves a little peace. And
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  Speaker 1: that's the way it should be. Every one of these
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  Speaker 1: lawsuits that's filed against a bank or whatever should always
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  Speaker 1: be certified and be a class action. It gives it
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  Speaker 1: more weight, it gives it more power, and it gives
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  Speaker 1: it more traction. So I think that's always the best
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  Speaker 1: way to go when possible, right? And another tell is
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  Speaker 1: that the banks, they never want it to be certified.
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  Speaker 1: They don't want to deal with a class action suit
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  Speaker 1: of 100 people. They'd much rather go after one person
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  Speaker 1: and try to destroy their credibility. The judge noted that
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  Speaker 1: First Bank opposed the motion, which was argued during an
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  Speaker 1: October 15th hearing. Following the hearing, Rakoff requested additional numerical
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  Speaker 1: information from a claims administrator involved in separate Epstein-related litigation
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  Speaker 1: concerning Bank of America, JP Morgan, and Deutsche Bank. And
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  Speaker 1: there it is, the blueprint. One thing courtrooms love is precedent.
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  Speaker 1: And if we've had these lawsuits go through previously, there
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  Speaker 1: is a baseline for what to expect. Now, that is
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  Speaker 1: just in generic terms, right? It doesn't mean that because
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  Speaker 1: one was successful that they all will be. But it
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  Speaker 1: gives the survivors a blueprint on exactly the path to follow.
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  Speaker 1: The information was delivered October 17th and shared with the
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  Speaker 1: parties two days later. Rakoff said a separate opinion explaining
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  Speaker 1: his decision would follow, after which the court would consider
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: notifying eligible class members. So I'm guessing a lot of
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  Speaker 1: these survivors are going to be getting contacted, right? Look,
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  Speaker 1: we have this new certified suit and you're eligible to
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  Speaker 1: be a part of it if you'd like to be.
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  Speaker 1: And my guess is the vast majority of people that
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  Speaker 1: are contacted are going to be part of the suit.
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  Speaker 1: Why wouldn't you be? If I'm looking for restitution and
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  Speaker 1: this bank was part of the enabling of Epstein and
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  Speaker 1: prolonging my suffering, I'm suing them too. Believe it. I'm
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: suing everybody. I'm suing the people that were managing the house.
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  Speaker 1: I'm suing Indykin Khan. I'm suing the government. I'm suing
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  Speaker 1: Alan Dershowitz. I'm fucking suing everybody. Believe it. If this
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  Speaker 1: was me, forget it. Not only am I suing you,
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  Speaker 1: I'm suing your goldfish, your dog, your nanny, Somebody that
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  Speaker 1: drove past you? Everybody. You get my drift, right? And
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  Speaker 1: I think that's what these survivors are going to start doing.
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  Speaker 1: The latest ruling follows an October 14th opinion in which
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  Speaker 1: Rakoff allowed several claims against First Bank to proceed. Malkinova
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  Speaker 1: alleges the bank maintained an extensive financial relationship with Epstein
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  Speaker 1: despite mounting evidence of his alleged criminal activities. They didn't care.
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  Speaker 1: They were getting paid. All that matters... is the Fazuls.
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  Speaker 1: And as long as that money keeps pumping in, they
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  Speaker 1: don't give a shit what Epstein's up to. How does
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  Speaker 1: that affect them? According to an earlier opinion, the complaint claims,
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  Speaker 1: First Bank opened and maintained more than 30 accounts associated
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  Speaker 1: with Epstein and related entities over two decades. Those accounts
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  Speaker 1: allegedly facilitated millions of dollars in transfers involving Epstein, his associates,
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  Speaker 1: and entities connected to his operations. And we didn't have
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  Speaker 1: a RICO case. All these people involved. All these different entities.
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  Speaker 1: All these different webs. And nobody thought to bring Rico?
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure that was just an oversight, right? Just another
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  Speaker 1: coincidence that happened to bounce in the favor of Jeffrey Epstein. Yo,
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  Speaker 1: these people really think we're stunat. They think we're stupid
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  Speaker 1: as fuck. And they think that their same old tired-ass
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  Speaker 1: narrative is going to work. Well, not this time. People
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  Speaker 1: are finally paying attention... and they don't like what they see.
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  Speaker 1: The lawsuit further alleges that First Bank continued providing services
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  Speaker 1: even after other financial institutions ended their relationship with Epstein.
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  Speaker 1: In his earlier ruling, Rakoff examined allegations that First Bank
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  Speaker 1: ignored warning signs surrounding Epstein's activities. The complaint claims the
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  Speaker 1: bank processed payments involving Epstein-linked entities and maintained accounts despite
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: publicly available reports concerning his abuse of young women and girls. Well,
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  Speaker 1: that's just par for the course. That's what all these
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  Speaker 1: banks did. They all knew what Epstein was up to,
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  Speaker 1: what he was, and the whole entire nonsense of them
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  Speaker 1: acting like they have amnesia now, like they have no idea,
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  Speaker 1: is not only ridiculous, it's offensive. Rakoff concluded that Malkanova
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  Speaker 1: had sufficiently alleged participation in a sex trafficking venture to
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  Speaker 1: allow her claim under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act to proceed. Now,
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  Speaker 1: that doesn't mean that everything is true, right? We have
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  Speaker 1: to go through the process. But there was enough there
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  Speaker 1: for Judge Rakoff to get to that point. And I
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  Speaker 1: think as we continue to move further and get more
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  Speaker 1: evidence of what went on, what's going on, it's going
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  Speaker 1: to be quite apparent that there was something wrong. And
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  Speaker 1: that First Bank, just like Deutsche Bank, just like JP Morgan,
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  Speaker 1: could have done more. And they chose not to. However,
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  Speaker 1: the judge dismissed a separate claim alleging obstruction of enforcement
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  Speaker 1: under that law. First Bank has contested the allegation and
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  Speaker 1: no finding of liability has been made. The newly certified
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  Speaker 1: class covers a period beginning around the time First Bank
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  Speaker 1: allegedly opened accounts connected to Epstein and ending with his
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  Speaker 1: death in August of 2019. The decision represents a significant
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  Speaker 1: procedural step for alleged victims seeking to hold financial institutions
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  Speaker 1: accountable for their purported roles in the Epstein operations. Well, look,
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  Speaker 1: this is the dark money. This is the heart. And
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  Speaker 1: without these institutions, Epstein couldn't do what he did. Maybe
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  Speaker 1: even more so than Richard Kahn and Endike. Because without
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  Speaker 1: these banks playing ball, how's Epstein going to move the money?
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  Speaker 1: How's Epstein going to facilitate what he has to do?
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  Speaker 1: Very difficult, right? So the banks had to be on board.
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  Speaker 1: The decision represents a significant procedural step for alleged victims
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  Speaker 1: seeking to hold financial institutions accountable for their purported roles
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  Speaker 1: in Epstein's operations. For now, the case will continue under
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  Speaker 1: the court's existing schedule while Rakoff prepares a more detailed
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  Speaker 1: explanation of his class certification ruling. And of course, when
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  Speaker 1: Judge Rakoff has that ruling available, we'll get that bad
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  Speaker 1: boy added to the catalog as well. But until then,
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  Speaker 1: that's going to do it for this one. All the
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  Speaker 1: information that goes with this episode can be found in
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  Speaker 1: the description box.