Kimora Lee Simmons Fighting to Keep $93 Million as Part of Estranged Husband's Criminal Case, Ex Russell Mounting War Against Model
Aug. 4 2023, Published 12:30 p.m. ET
Russell Simmons and his ex-wife Kimora Lee have dragged their fight to federal court — where the one-time friendly exes are in a bitter battle with tens of millions on the line, RadarOnline.com has learned.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Simmons, and Lee are both staking a claim in shares of a drink company named Celsius that was ordered to be seized by the government.
Simmons has been fighting with his ex-wife and her estranged husband Tim Leissner.
Simmons and Lee were married from 1998 to 2009. They maintained a friendly relationship for years. Lee married banker Leissner in 2014.
In 2018, Leissner was arrested on charges he participated in a massive foreign money laundering scheme. He has been free on $20 million bail ever since.
Leissner plead guilty in 2018 and was ordered to pay back $43.7 million as part of his deal. Prosecutors used Leissner as their star witness to convict others. Leissner will be sentenced himself later this year.
At the time of his arrest, Lee and Leissner used 3.3 million shares in a fitness drink company Celsius Holdings to pay for Leissner’s bond and legal fees.
In 2021, Simmons sued the couple accusing them of fraud. "Knowing full well that Defendant Leissner would need tens of millions of dollars to avoid jail time, stay out on bail and forfeit monies for victim compensation, Defendants engaged in this blatant fraud to achieve that nefarious and unlawful goal," his lawsuit read.
He accused the duo of transferring stocks owned by him to their own account. He demanded his ex and his estranged husband pay him damages and return his Celsius shares.
Simmons and Leissner denied all allegations of wrongdoing. The civil lawsuit remains ongoing in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Now, the fight has spilled over to federal court as part of Leissner’s criminal case. In March 2023, the court ordered the investment bank to forfeit all rights and interest in 3.3 million Celsius shares held in Lee’s bank account.
Lee claimed that 892,732.40 shares of the 3.3 million are hers. She said they should not be seized by the government and should be. The shares are worth around $93 million.
Lee explained her shares were purchased 1.5 years before any shares of Celsius stock were restrained by the court in connection with her ex’s criminal case.
“The purchase of the Celsius shares was with Lee’s separate funds from her personal, private bank account that was previously funded by income Lee earned from her modeling career and apparel line, among other personal business ventures in which Leissner had no involvement or interest,” Lee’s motion read.
Lee formed an investment company Nu Horizons in 2011. She was the sole member and manager, according to court documents. Leissner was appointed as a manager.
Lee said she purchased $1 million worth of stock in 2017. The stocks were held in Nu Horizon.
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Kimora Lee with Tim Leissner
“This was done based on Leissner’s promise that Lee would get the benefit of Nu Horizons’ previously acquired shares of Celsius (purchased at a lower price), which would be blended with Lee’s contribution,” the motion read.
“When Lee purchased the Celsius shares in January 2017 with her own separate funds, Lee neither knew nor had reason to know that those shares would later become subject to forfeiture,” the filing read.
Lee said Leissner did not contribute any funds to the purchase of her shares. Therefore, she demanded the 892k shares be returned to her account.
In regard to Simmons, Lee said her ex-husband did not invest his own funds to purchase shares of Celsius and did not contribute any money to Nu Horizons for the purchase of Celsius shares. Further, she said he had resigned as a manager of Nu Horizons in 2018 and transferred all his interest in Nu Horizons to Lee’s company.
Simmons filed his own stake in the shares. He claimed Lee invested in Celsius because he proposed the investment. He said, during his time as manager at Nu Horizon, he purchased the prior shares of the company with Leissner in 2015 — the same stocks that Lee mixed her shares with after purchasing hers in 2017.
Simmons argued that Lee and Leissner committed fraud and unlawfully used his stocks when Leissner’s legal problems started. The disgraced media mogul has demanded the federal court award him at least 49% of the shares.
A judge has yet to rule.
Recently, Simmons publicly asked Simmons to stop threatening her and their daughters.