Russell Simmons sues ex-wife Kimora Lee for ‘stealing stocks to pay her husband’s $44M bail’

Ousted Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons is suing his ex-wife Kimora Lee and her second husband Tim Leissner to return nearly 4M shares of stocks they allegedly stole from him in 2018.

The disgraced 63-year-old accused the couple of making a ‘fraudulent transfer’ of his 50% shares in the energy drink company Celsius to pay Leissner’s legal/bail fees totaling $44M.

Leissner, 49, avoided jail time by pleading guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit money laundering for stealing billions from Malaysian wealth fund 1MDB.   

In a statement to DailyMail.com, representatives for Kimora expressed ‘shock’ over the lawsuit, even referring to it as an ‘extortion attempt’ by Russell.

‘Kimora and her children are shocked by the extortive harassment coming from her ex-husband, Russell Simmons, who has decided to sue her for shares and dividends of Celsius stock in which Kimora and Tim Leissner invested millions of dollars,’ the statement began. 

‘This is an ill-advised attempt by Russell to use the legal system to access funds he is in no way entitled to, and which his own legal team confirms Russell did not pay for.

‘Russell’s continued aggressive behavior not only blatantly distorts the facts, but is simply a desperate PR ploy ignoring the years of mental and emotional anguish, gaslighting, and ongoing harassment he has inflicted on Kimora,’ representatives for the Baby Phat designer continued.

‘Russell will be held accountable for his serial abuse and we will confront his baseless claims that he is warranted Celsius stock dividends despite his self-admitted zero contribution.

‘This extortion attempt is especially egregious given that Russell remains contractually in debt to Kimora for millions of dollars in unpaid business loans. 

‘Our team is actively working to put a firm end to his harassment, which continues despite Russell having fled the country – he will face his own reckoning in the US court,’ the statement concluded.

According to People, Russell wrote: ‘I am shocked and saddened to see how your side has behaved in response to my repeated attempts to get an agreement from you to rightfully and legally reaffirm my 50% of the Celsius shares which have been locked up with the government after being used for your husband’s bail money.’

Simmons didn’t discover the ‘blatant fraud to achieve that nefarious and unlawful goal’ until July 2019.

The Eat to Live author – who ended his seven-year marriage to Kimora in 2008 – is now demanding the return of the shares, payment, punitive damages, and attorney legal fees. 

Russell and the 46-year-old Baby Phat CEO were previously believed to be amicable exes, who dote on 21-year-old daughter Ming and 18-year-old daughter Aoki.

Simmons currently runs a meditation/yoga app called GDAS and lives in exile in Bali (due to extradition laws) after being accused of over 20 women of sexual assault and misconduct.

The vegan yogi’s #MeToo scandal was detailed in Kirby Dick + Amy Ziering’s critically-acclaimed documentary On the Record, which premiered a year ago on HBO Max.