A new federal lawsuit has accused billionaire Leon Black, the former CEO of Apollo Global Management, of raping a 16-year-old girl who had allegedly been trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein.
The unidentified girl, who reportedly has Down syndrome, claims in a new lawsuit that Black raped her in 2002 at convicted sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein’s lower Manhattan townhouse. Per CNBC:
The lawsuit alleges the unidentified plaintiff had been trafficked to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. The plaintiff, who is now in her late 30s, is described in the legal complaint as being born with mosaic Down syndrome and having a “developmental age” around 12 years old.
The latest civil lawsuit against Black was filed days after The New York Times reported that he had agreed in January to pay $62.5 million to the U.S. Virgin Islands to settle any potential claims from the territory’s investigation of Epstein.
Earlier Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee unveiled details of its yearlong investigation into Black’s ties to Epstein, including $158 million Black allegedly paid him for tax and estate planning services.
Susan Estrich, an attorney for Black, has called the lawsuit “frivolous and sanctionable,” adding that Black has never met the plaintiff, who has been identified only as Jane Doe. Estrich further claimed that Wigdor LLP, the firm representing the girl, has been pursuing a “vendetta” against Black through a series of lawsuits, including a case that was dismissed in May.
“These vicious and defamatory lies, masquerading as allegations, have been intentionally manufactured by the Wigdor law firm as part of the firm’s vendetta against Mr. Black for vigorously and successfully defending himself over the past two years,” Estrich said.
She added:
Wigdor’s prior case against Mr. Black was recently thrown out by the Court, and this one will be too. These allegations — about an incident that supposedly took place 20 years ago — are totally made up, entirely uncorroborated, and as pleaded, squarely violate the statute of limitations.
“This sham proceeding will be promptly dismissed and will provide further ammunition for Mr. Black’s pending sanctions motion against the Wigdor firm,” Estrich concluded.
As UPI reported, the Senate Finance Committee began “investigating $158 million paid” to Jeffrey Epstein by Leon Black for tax and estate-planning advice. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the finance committee chairman, revealed the investigation Tuesday and called it an inquiry into how “ultra-high net worth persons avoid or evade paying federal taxes, including gift and estate taxes.”
UPI noted:
Wyden said the investigation uncovered serious tax issues, allowing Black — who is a private equity investor — to avoid more than $1 billion in future gift and estate taxes. The investigation alleges Black paid the late disgraced financier a total of $158 million in several installments between 2012 and 2017.
Breitbart News also reported in 2022 that another woman alleged Leon Black raped her 20 years ago in the same year as the woman in the recent lawsuit.
“Cheri Pierson claims that 20 years ago, the infamous Jeffrey Epstein introduced her to Black at his Upper East Side mansion. She says she was there to give Black a $300 massage, something she’d done for Epstein five times before,” John Nolte noted.
“Pierson says she would never consent to Epstein’s wish to include sex acts with the massage. So, he cut her loose. The suit says Pierson soon found herself ‘in desperate need for money,’ so she reconnected with him. That’s when Epstein introduced her and Black,” he added.
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.