Kimora Lee Simmons Demands Ex Russell Simmons Pay Her $120k In Bitter Court Battle
July 28 2022, Published 2:25 p.m. ET
Kimora Lee Simmons has asked a court to order her ex-husband Russell Simmons to cough up $119k in their never-ending court battle, RadarOnline.com has learned.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, the Baby Phat founder demanded $83k in attorneys' fees and another $35k for the costs of preparing the motion.
Last year, Russell sued his ex and her new husband/investment banker Tim Leissner and accused them of stealing stocks he had ownership of without his permission.
Russell and Kimora were married from 1998 to 2009. However, they remained in business together in the years after their divorce. They were members of a company called Nu Horizons Investment Group which owned stock.
They all owned shares in the energy drink company Celsius. He claimed Kimora and Tim used 4 million shares as security for posting a bond in a criminal case.
In his suit, Russell’s lawyer wrote, "Knowing full well that [Tim] would need tens of millions of dollars to avoid jail time, stay out on bail and forfeit monies for victim compensation, [Tim and Kimora] engaged in this blatant fraud to achieve that nefarious and unlawful goal."
Tim ended up pleading guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit money laundering for his role in the Malaysian wealth fund 1MDB. As part of his deal, he agreed to pay back $44 million but didn’t have to serve a day in jail.
In the lawsuit, Kimora argued she had no duty to inform Russell of the decision because he had resigned as manager of Nu Horizons in 2018.
Kimora’s lawyer says, “at the time [Tim & Kimora] used the Celsius shares for purposes of the bond in connection with the federal case, [Kimora] understood and believed that [Tim & Kimora] were authorized to use the shares for the bond.”
She also said the shares were only being temporarily held by the government and would be returned. Kimora denied all allegations of fraud.
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Recently, Russell filed an amended complaint adding a breach claim against Kimora. She moved to dismiss the claim and the court agreed. The lawsuit will continue on, but Kimora wants Russell to pay the cost for having to defend herself against the one claim.
She said her team of white-collar lawyers cost quite a bit for their time — with most charging over $1k an hour for their work.
The court has yet to rule.
