Leon Black Suit Based on ‘Pure Speculation,’ Model Argues

(Bloomberg) -- A former Russian model asked a judge to throw out a lawsuit against her by Leon Black in which the Wall Street billionaire claims that she conspired with a group of lawyers and spin doctors to destroy him professionally and personally.

Black, the co-founder of Apollo Global Management Inc., filed the civil racketeering suit against the woman, Guzel Ganieva, and her lawyers, Wigdor LLP, last year in Manhattan federal court after she had sued him in state court for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, gender-motivated violence and retaliation. 

Black said in April that he made payments for years to keep a consensual affair with Ganieva secret. He claims she later extorted money from him by threatening to expose the affair publicly.

Susan Estrich, a lawyer for Black, said Friday's filing raises only technical defenses to the claims, “exactly what we expected.” 

Read More: Leon Black Accused of Flying Model to Epstein Home for Sex Acts

Black alleges in his suit that Ganieva, Wigdor, two unidentified public relations specialists and an unnamed funder of the litigation conspired to extort him and destroy his reputation. 

Black, Ganieva and Wigdor deny the allegations against them.

“The Enterprise was comprised of Client, Firm, Flacks, and Funder,” Black said in his complaint. “They waged war on multiple fronts and had multiple goals -- among them, to get more money through extortion or a fraudulently induced litigation award; to destroy the reputation of Mr. Black and his business; to undermine his career; to interfere with his business relationships; and to raise concerns about his leadership of the company he created and nurtured for the last thirty years.”

Ganieva and Wigdor, who separately filed motions to dismiss the case, say the flacks and funder don't exist.

“Black does not even manage to identify the purported Funder or Flacks, and offers nothing other than pure speculation to support his baseless conspiracy allegations,” Wigdor said in its filing.

In her suit, Ganieva claimed Black “sexually abused her for years, bullied her into silence with a coercive non-disclosure agreement, and then defamed her when she finally summoned the courage to speak publicly about Black's conduct,” according to court papers she filed Friday.

Black stepped down as chairman and chief executive officer from Apollo last year amid scrutiny over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

The case is Black v. Ganieva, 21-cv-08824, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

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