Russell Simmons is accusing his ex-wife Kimora Lee Simmons of fraud in a new lawsuit. People reports In his formal complaint, the business mogul claims Simmons and Leissner illegally took almost $4 million in stocks of energy drink company Celsius and used the funds to pay for Leissner’s legal fees and bail stemming from a 2018 money laundering case.
Simmons says he reached out to his former wife in a letter ahead of filing the suit in the hopes that it could be handled without involving lawyers. To do so, he asked that she reaffirm his assets. He quoted the letter in his legal documents. “Throughout my entire decades-long partnership with you I’ve done everything and anything to protect and promote our family. I have never said no to any request and have always gone against my own council to offer up much more than any judge would ever require of me in order to keep the peace,” he wrote, before adding, “I am shocked and saddened to see how your side has behaved in response to my repeated attempts to get an agreement from you to rightfully and legally reaffirm my 50% of the Celsius shares which have been locked up with the government after being used for your husband’s bail money.”
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Simmons went on in his message to further address Leissner’s legal troubles. In 2018, Leissner plead guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit money laundering after stealing billions of dollars from Malaysian wealth fund 1MDB. In order to avoid serious time behind bars, he agreed to forfeit close to $44 million. “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,” Simmons continued in the complaint.
He also claims that the couple worked together to steal money from Simmons in 2018, but he didn’t learn of the incident until July 2019. In addition to fraud, Simmons also says his ex-wife is guilty of breaking their confidentiality agreement. He’s asking that that the couple be ordered to pay back the stolen funds as well as punitive fees and additional money.
