By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge said two close advisers to the late Jeffrey Epstein can be sued by victims who accused them of aiding and abetting the disgraced financier's sex trafficking of young women and teenage girls.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian in Manhattan rejected arguments by Epstein's former personal lawyer Darren Indyke and former accountant Richard Kahn that victims cannot pursue a class action because many agreed not to sue after settling claims against Epstein's estate.
But the judge put the proposed class action on hold because the release signed by named plaintiff Danielle Bensky covered her claims against Indyke and Kahn.
Bensky said she had been an aspiring dancer before being recruited into Epstein's orbit in 2004.
Subramanian said another plaintiff, Jane Doe 3, may pursue some claims, and file a motion for class certification "at the right time and with the right record."
In a statement on behalf of the defendants, Indyke's lawyer Daniel Weiner said they "emphatically reject" accusations they knew about or were complicit in Epstein's wrongdoing.
He also said 134 other women awarded more than $121 million from the estate through a victim compensation fund signed the same release as Bensky, while more than 50 other women who settled separately signed "virtually identical" releases.
Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer for the victims, said in a statement: "We are thrilled with the fact that the Epstein survivors will proceed against Epstein's right hand money men to hold them accountable."
Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail in August 2019, one month after being arrested on sex trafficking charges.
His longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell is awaiting an appeals court decision on whether to overturn her Dec. 2021 conviction and 20-year prison term for aiding Epstein's abuses.
Victims said Indyke and Kahn helped Epstein create a complex web of corporations and bank accounts that let him hide his abuses and pay victims and recruiters, while leaving them "richly compensated" for their work.
McCawley and another lawyer for the victims, David Boies, helped obtain $365 million of settlements with JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and Deutsche Bank after accusing them of missing red flags about Epstein, once a lucrative client.
The cases are Bensky et al v Indyke et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 24-01204; and Doe 3 v Indyke et al in the same court, No. 24-02192.