Billionaire financier Leon Black has escalated his battle against a Russian model who accused him of rape by filing a lawsuit accusing her of defamation and setting out to 'destroy him' in a 'criminal enterprise'.
Black, 70, a close friend of the notorious financier and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, was first publicly accused of rape and sexual abuse in March by Guzel Ganieva, 38.
Ganieva alleged Black is a 'violent, sadistic,' sexual predator who raped and harassed her then coerced her into signing an non-disclosure-agreement. She went on to file a lawsuit against Black in June.
But now, Black, once one of New York City's most powerful executives as the former CEO of Apollo Global Management, is suing Ganieva and her law firm Wigdor Law for defamation and racketeering conspiracy.
In Black's lawsuit, he accused them of engaging in a 'criminal enterprise,' including by allegedly falsely linking Black to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Ganieva has alleged Black forced her to fly to Florida to 'satisfy the sex needs' of Epstein at his Palm Beach villa.
After filing her initial lawsuit in June, Ganieva amended it in September to include the accusations of a second woman, referred to only as Jane Doe, who alleged she was violently raped by Black in Jeffrey Epstein's New York residence in 2002.
'Knowing that to him, and in his world, reputation matters, they set about to destroy him and make him pay anything to make them stop,' Black's lawyers said in a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court said. 'They are planning to line their own pockets with the results.'
Billionaire investor Leon Black has escalated his battle against a former model who accused him of rape, filing a lawsuit on Thursday accusing her and her law firm of defamation and racketeering conspiracy (Black pictured in California in 2018)
Guzel Ganieva, 38, is a Russian model who accused Black of rape and longstanding sexual abuse. In September, she amended her initial lawsuit to include the claims of a second woman who said she was violently raped by Black in 2002 (Ganieva pictured in NYC in 2011)
Ganieva has alleged Black forced her to fly to Florida to 'satisfy the sex needs' of Jeffrey Epstein at his Palm Beach villa
'This is an obvious act of retaliation,' Ganieva's lawyer Jeanne Christensen said in an email about Thursday's lawsuit. 'We look forward to defending ourselves against these ludicrous allegations.'
Christensen, who is a partner at Wigdor LLP, told DailyMail.com in a statement: 'This is an obvious act of retaliation and the allegations put forth by Black are delusional.
'While Mr. Black is free to engage in ludicrous conspiracy theories, it is disheartening to learn that his law firm Quinn Emanuel would sign onto this outlandish theory of victim shaming while they simultaneously attempt to cash in and market themselves as a firm that represents actual survivors.'
The lawsuit and resulting investigation comes after Black denied any knowledge of Epstein's wrongdoing when his heinous crimes were exposed.
Ganieva first went public with her accusations about Black's long-standing history of sexual abuse and coercive behavior.
Black resigned from his position as head of the massive investment firm Apollo Global on March 22, just days after Ganieva posted a series of tweets claiming that her abuse at the hands of black started in 2008 and continued until 2015.
She went on to file a lawsuit against the billionaire financier in June, in which she branded him a 'violent and sadistic' sexual predator who raped and harassed her, before alleging that the former CEO of Apollo Global Management forced her to fly to Florida to 'satisfy the sex needs' of Jeffrey Epstein at his Palm Beach villa.
Ganieva has also claimed that Black tried to arrange for her to have sex with Epstein in 2008.
Black (right) stepped down from his role as CEO of Apollo in march after he was revealed as a long-time associate of pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein (left). Pictured: Black and Epstein at a screening of the film Capote in 2005
Guzel Ganieva has accused Black of rape and a long-standing history of sexual abuse. Ganieva is pictured (left) with friends Natane Boudreau and Claudia Mason in 2011
Ganieva alleged that the former CEO of Apollo Global Management forced her to fly to Florida to 'satisfy the sex needs' of Jeffrey Epstein at his Palm Beach villa
Black had previously admitted to having a six-year affair with Ganieva, which he claims was consensual, and said he paid Ganieva $100,000 a month for 15 years not to discuss the relationship after she allegedly tried to extort him of $100 million. Those payments stopped after Ganieva tweeted about Black in March.
But the financier, who is married to broadway theatre producer Debra Black, has refuted all of the sexual abuse claims made against him.
Lawyers for Ganieva then in September filed an amended complaint detailing the 'horrific experiences' of a Jane Doe who says she was violently raped by Black in 2002.
Ganieva's legal team said Jane Doe's experiences show that 'contrary to Black's version of events that he knew 'nothing' about Epstein's sexual wrongdoing, as alleged, Black was perpetrating his own sexual crimes at Epstein's home as far back as 2002.'
According to an amendment to Ganieva's initial lawsuit against Black, a second woman referred to only as Jane Doe was violent raped by the billionaire financier at Jeffrey Epstein's New York townhouse in 2002 (pictured)
Black (pictured with wife Debra) already stands accused of years of 'bullying, threatening and pressure tactics,' to 'force' Ganieva's silence, according to a previous lawsuit (pictured in 2017)
Going a step further, the motion alleges that Black had a, 'long-standing relationship with Epstein for years…. that involved arranged massages with women for money at Epstein's home.'
According to the amended suit, the Jane Doe met Epstein 'sometime around 2000,' when she was introduced by an acquaintance, a Ukrainian woman.
Jane Doe alleged that a short while into her association with Epstein, she was violently assaulted by Black after he instructed her to give him a massage at Epstein's NYC home.
The suit claims that a 'huge' Black, standing more than 6ft 4in and weighing more than 300lbs, brutally raped her before paying her off.
Jane Doe is described as a single mother of 'limited financial means' and, it is alleged, Black, 'believed that his money could…silence [her] and nullify his behavior.'
In response, Black's legal team released a statement saying they are unaware of the reported criminal probe from the Manhattan DA's office and repeated Black's denial of any claims made against him.
'As we have previously stated, Mr. Black has provided substantial documentary evidence in legal filings, including text messages and recordings, that show Ms. Ganieva's claims to be completely false,' the spokesperson said.
'In addition, we have been in contact with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and provided detailed evidence of Ms. Ganieva's extortion of Mr. Black.'
Black recently bolstered his legal team, adding John Quinn, a name partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, and Susan Estrich, whose clients have included former Fox News chairman Roger Ailes.
'There is really no reason Mr. Black should be defending himself,' Estrich, who said she has known Black since they studied at Dartmouth College in the 1970s, said in an interview. 'Private consensual adult conduct is not the law's business. Extortion and defamation are the business of the law.'
Black has publicly regretted his involvement with Epstein, who killed himself in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Earlier this year, Black stepped down from Apollo after an outside independent review found he had paid Epstein $158 million for tax and estate planning, though was not involved in Epstein's criminal activities.
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