The founder and ex-CEO of Apollo Global Management Leon Black provided the Supreme Court of the state of New York with a response to the charges of a Russian citizen and an ex-model Guzel Ganieva of rape. The businessman called all the statements of his former mistress a lie, and also noted that over the years of the relationship, he gave Ganieva gifts worth millions of US dollars.
Leon Black. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
& nbsp;What’s the story with the accusations?
On June 1, 2021, Guzel Ganieva sued Leon Black, accusing him of defamation and claiming that he harassed her and committed sexual violence against her. The ex-model also said that the businessman treated her cruelly and humiliated her.
The filing of the lawsuit was preceded by messages on Twitter of Ganieva, which were published in March. In them, she stated that Black “sexually harassed and raped” her for “many years”.
How did Leon Black comment on the lawsuit filed against him?
In his response, Leon Black confirmed the fact of sexual relations with Guzel Ganieva. According to him, the acquaintance with the Russian emigrant occurred at a party organized by a former colleague of the businessman. After several dates in restaurants, Ganieva and the married Black entered into a long-term sexual relationship by mutual consent.
For five years, the billionaire gave his mistress expensive gifts, rented her an apartment in a prestigious area of New York, paid for travel, bought a luxury car, paid for her education at the acting school and Columbia University. Ganieva also borrowed large sums from Black. Throughoutfor several years, she regularly confessed her love to the businessman in text messages and was an active initiator of their meetings. However, in June 2015, Ganieva called Black for an urgent meeting, during which she announced that she would make their relationship public if he did not pay her a large sum of money. For silence, the Russian woman asked for $ 100 million.
In October 2015, the former lovers signed an agreement, according to which Ganieva undertakes not to disclose information about their relationship. In exchange, Black forgave her loans for $ 1 million, paid $ 100 thousand and pledged to transfer her another $ 100 thousand monthly for 15 years. The businessman also provided the Russian woman with $ 2 million so that she could legalize her residence in the UK.
What is known about Leon Black?
Leon Black was the CEO of the American investment company Apollo Global Management. In March 2021, he left this post after it became known about his ties with the financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of organizing prostitution and sexual relations with minors. Later, an independent investigation showed that Black was not involved in the criminal activities of Jeffrey Epstein.