Def Jam Records founder and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons has filed a lawsuit against his ex-wife Kimora Lee Simmons and her new husband Tim Leissner.
The record executive is suing the pair, claiming they stole stock shares from his Celsius Energy Drink company to pay for attorney fees for Leissner. Russell claims that his shares are being used as collateral to pay a bond in connection with criminal charges filed against Kimora’s new husband by federal authorities.
In 2018, The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Leissner, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive, for engaging in a corruption scheme, by which he obtained millions of dollars by paying unlawful bribes to various government officials to secure lucrative contracts for Goldman Sachs. He eventually plead guilty to criminal conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and was hit with conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to Forbes.
Simmons claims he knew Leissner would need millions of dollars, $44 million according to his lawsuit, to stay out of jail. This is what he believes prompted the illegal transfer of the shares. According to a report obtained from The Blast, Simmons, Kimora and her husband Tim, invested millions of dollars into Celsius Energy Drink. However, it is alleged by Simmons that the new couple “conspired with each other, aided and abetted each other and together engaged in fraud by causing an unlawful conversion and fraudulent transfer.” The Celsius shares were then concealed without his knowledge or consent.
Russell also claims he sent a letter to the mother of his two daughters on May 5, pleading with her to make amends in order to avoid a lawsuit. In the letter, he urged her “to get the important family matter of the Celsius shares to a close so that we can put it behind us and carry on as the loving united front we have always been.”
Simmons is asking to be awarded a restitution for interest and equal value for the alleged stolen shares.
“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,” added Simmons in the letter to Kimora.
Russell and Kimora split back in 2009 and have maintained a healthy relationship up until now, as they raised their daughters, Ming Lee Simmons, 21, and Aoki Lee Simmons, 18.
