Russell Simmons Fighting Government's Attempt To Seize Shares Used By Kimora Lee’s Husband in Criminal Case
Dec. 14 2023, Published 11:00 a.m. ET
Russell Simmons fought back against the government’s attempt to seize stocks he claimed were rightfully his.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Simmons opposed prosecutors’ request to dismiss the petition he filed as part of his ex-wife Kimora Lee Simmons’ estranged husband Tim Leissner’s criminal case.
Simmons and Lee were married from 1998 to 2009. Lee went on to marry banker Leissner in 2014.
Aoki's parents met in 1991 when Kimora Lee was 16 years old and in high school and music mogul Russell Simmons was 34.
Over the years, Simmons and Lee continued to do business together and maintained a friendly relationship publicly.
In 2018, Leissner was arrested over his role in a massive foreign money laundering scheme. He posted $20 million bond and was allowed to be free while his criminal case unfolded. He pleaded guilty and agreed to pay back $43 million.
Part of the bond he posted included millions of shares in an energy company named Celsius. The value of the stocks was $13 million.
In 2021, Simmons sued Lee and Leissner claiming the stock they used for the bond was his. “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 suit read.
He accused his ex-wife and her husband of transferring stock owned by him into their account.
Earlier this year, as part of his criminal case, the government demanded Leissner forfeit the millions of shares held in Lee’s bank account.
As we first reported, Lee claimed 892k of the shares were hers. She asked the government to not seize her shares.
She claimed the 892k shares were purchased 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 claimed in 2017 she purchased $1 million worth of stock in the energy company. She claimed the stocks were held in the investment company Nu Horizons, which she formed.
“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 didn’t contribute funds to the purchase of the shares in question.
Regarding her ex-husband, Lee claimed Simmons did not contribute his own money to help Nu Horizons purchase the Celsius shares. In addition, she claimed Simmons had resigned as a manager of Nu Horizons in 2018.
Lee claimed Simmons transferred all of his interest in Nu Horizons to Lee’s company.
Simmons claimed his ex-wife invested in the company because of his suggestion. He also said he did invest his money into stocks that were purchased by Leissner while at Nu Horizons.
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Further, he claimed that he was owed 49% of the shares that the government wanted to seize.
Earlier this month, the government asked that Simmons’ motion that demanded a portion of the stocks be thrown out. The government-backed up Lee’s claim Simmons had transferred all of his interest in Nu Horizons to Lee’s company in 2019.
Now, Simmons has fired back. “The motion to dismiss the Verified Petition is a shocking attempt by the government to take property worth over $500 million from an innocent person while denying that person the ability to challenge the government’s wrongful taking,” his response read.
His lawyer argued, “It strains credulity to assert that stepping into the shoes of the criminal member of an LLC somehow allows the government to take all the interest of the other, innocent member of the LLC, and the innocent member is then not allowed to contest this injustice.”
“Simmons paid money and contributed valuable promotional efforts for his membership interest in Nu Horizons. Nu Horizons paid money for the Celsius Shares. The only person at Nu Horizons who was aware of Defendant Leissner’s crime was Leissner himself, and his knowledge cannot be imputed to Nu Horizons, or to Russell Simmons, because his crimes were far outside the scope of his duties at Nu Horizons,” his lawyer said.
Simmons claimed since Leissner worked out the deal with the government, the value of the stocks rose from $13 million to over $500 million.
Simmons said under the deal that the government cut with Leissner, Leissner will receive $43.7 million, the government will receive $456 million while Nu Horizons and he will be paid nothing.
The disgraced mogul argued the facts alleged show he has a legal interest in the shares.
The judge has yet to rule.