Feds Say Russell Simmons’ Claim Ex-Wife Stole Stock To Pay New Husband’s Bond Is False
The federal government is officially stating that Russell Simmons’ claim that his ex-wife, Kimora Lee Simmons, took his stock away from an energy drink company to pay for her new husband, Tim Leissner, to be bailed out of jail.
HipHopDX revealing the U.S. government filed a memorandum of law in support of the dismissal of the music mogul’s claim for the stock, which is in the company Celsius.
In the memo filed on Thursday (December 7), the feds’ position is that Simmons has no stake in the claim and laid out several reasons for such. One, he was a minority shareholder in the corporation from which the stock was taken, and a shareholder in a corporation doesn’t own its assets.
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Two, the government states that a proper stock sale or transfer didn’t take place, rather, they say that Leissner was moving around proceeds from a bribery and money laundering scheme.
Finally, the feds claim that Simmons gave up his interest in Celsius which initially received the stock years prior to the transfer taking place. As a result, his claim that he later regained that interest does not hold up to scrutiny.
Simmons repeated the claim about the Celsius stock during a recent interview with journalist Graham Bensinger. “I was very generous and tried to be supportive. We were together 15 years, Kimora and I,” he said. “And for eight years, we were married. And together for seven, before that. And then, I was best friends with Kimora throughout the entire raising of my children.”
Simmons added: “So, I tried to be flexible, and accommodating, and supportive. And sometimes, things don’t work out. You’ve seen the lawsuit. I had no choice. I think Jesus Christ, Lord Buddha, anybody would have sued. She gave what is now, today, based on the value of the stock, $800 million to the government illegally, and now I’m fighting to get my half of it back.”
In 2018, Leissner pleaded guilty to a criminal conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He was also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. At the time, Russell Simmons alleged that Kimora put up $44 million in stock to use a collateral for his federal bond.
