Leon Black, former CEO of Apollo Global Management and an associate of Jeffrey Epstein, was ordered to be deposed in a lawsuit brought by women who allege that Bank of America facilitated and profited from Epstein’s sex-trafficking enterprise.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff ruled on Wednesday that Black will give sworn testimony later this month. The deposition of the billionaire financier is expected to last up to 8 hours, with 5 hours allocated for the victims’ legal team and 3 hours for Bank of America lawyers.

Black is not a defendant in the suit brought against Bank of America. He has previously denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein’s criminal conduct.

It wasn’t known that Black would be deposed in the case until the judge scheduled a conference call on the matter.

“(Black) is a critical witness in this case,” Sigrid McCawley, an attorney for the victims, said on the call.

The lawsuit claims the financial institution turned a blind eye to suspicious transactions that Black made to Epstein from his Bank of America account, including $170 million for “tax and estate planning advice.”

The money, the plaintiffs allege, was used to fund Epstein’s sex-trafficking enterprise.

In a prior settlement agreement between Black and the U.S. Virgin Islands, it stated, “Epstein used the money Black paid him to partially fund his operations in the Virgin Islands.”

The deal was reached to avoid potential claims over his ties to Epstein.

His deposition for the case was initially set for Monday, but it was pushed back at the request of his attorney, Michael Carlinsky.

“My understanding is the parties are very close to resolving this dispute,” Carlinsky told the judge on the call.

The victims’ legal team and Bank of America lawyers didn’t disclose any details regarding a possible settlement on the call.

Attorneys for the victims didn’t immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.

Bank of America and a spokesperson for Black declined to comment.

The lawsuit, filed in 2025, alleges that Bank of America provided banking services in connection to Epstein and his sex-trafficking organization, as well as bank accounts used by “Epstein’s co-conspirators, associates, and victims at Epstein’s direction,” including Ghislaine Maxwell.

The plaintiffs claim the bank failed to properly monitor accounts and did not file timely suspicious activity reports concerning questionable transactions.

“This lawsuit seeks to hold Bank of America, N.A. civilly liable for the crimes of JeffreyEpstein based on nothing more than allegations that it provided routine services to customers who at the time had no known connection to Epstein’s sex trafficking,” Bank of America said in a previous court filing.

Epstein victims have brought similar lawsuits against JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, which were later settled for hundreds of millions of dollars.