Leon Black, former head of Apollo World Administration, has countersued rape accuser Guzel Ganieva and her regulation agency, accusing them of making an attempt to extort him and destroy his repute.
REUTERS
A former mannequin accusing Leon Black of rape requested a US decide on Friday to dismiss the billionaire investor’s defamation and racketeering conspiracy lawsuit in opposition to her and her regulation agency, as she pursues a separate lawsuit over the rape declare.
In a Manhattan federal courtroom submitting, Guzel Ganieva accused the previous Apollo World Administration Inc chief govt of making an attempt to drive a “wedge” between her and Wigdor LLP by suing, 4 months after she sued him in a New York state courtroom.
Black had accused Ganieva and the regulation agency of partaking in a “felony enterprise” the place they employed an unnamed financing supply and public relations representatives to extort him and destroy his repute.
The 70-year-old has additionally strongly denied Ganieva’s claims, together with that he tried to rearrange a sexual encounter between her and the late intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2008.
In looking for a dismissal of Black’s claims, Ganieva and the Wigdor regulation agency denied conspiring in opposition to him.
“Merely put, there aren't any ‘funders’ or ‘flacks,'” the regulation agency mentioned, utilizing a time period for PR representatives.
Susan Estrich, a lawyer for Black, in an interview on Friday mentioned Black had supplied “incontrovertible proof” in opposition to Ganieva’s claims, and her “scurrilous claims haven't any goal aside from to humiliate and embarrass Mr. Black with lies.”
Each lawsuits stem from a relationship between Ganieva and the married Black from 2008 to 2014, and which Black has referred to as consensual however “regrettable.”
Ganieva has accused Black of forcing her to signal a nondisclosure settlement, and defaming her by claiming she tried to extort him.
Black has mentioned he had paid Ganieva $100,000 a month for 5-1/2 years to maintain quiet. These funds stopped final March.
Epstein killed himself in August 2019 whereas awaiting trial on intercourse trafficking fees.
Black has publicly regretted his ties to Epstein. He stepped down from Apollo final yr after an unbiased evaluate discovered he had paid Epstein $158 million for tax and property planning, although was not concerned in Epstein’s felony actions.
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