The fund created by the estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein to compensate victims of sexual assault by the financier has wrapped up its work by paying out just over $121 million to more than 135 people — far more than expected, according to the fund’s administrator. Jordana Feldman, the administrator of the fund, which began its work in earnest last August, said she had wanted to get money to eligible victims as quickly as possible because so many of them had been waiting for years. She said she had wanted to approve the final awards before Tuesday — the second anniversary of Mr. Epstein’s death in federal custody of an apparent suicide. “I really wanted this process to move quickly and in a meaningful and purposeful way,” said Ms. Feldman, a lawyer who also worked on the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. “I really believe these programs are as much about validation as compensation.”The money handed out to Mr. Epstein’s victims is considerable when compared with the roughly $17 million that dozens of sexual abuse victims of the former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein were awarded in a settlement approved this year by a bankruptcy judge.

Source: New York Times August 09, 2021 12:38 UTC