Wall Street billionaire Leon Black gave £2M to his Russian mistress to help her secure British ‘golden visa’ after she threatened to expose their affair, court papers reveal
- Black introduced Ganieva to senior lawyers in London and New York, it’s claimed
- Investor met Russian after she moved to US to pursue career as a fashion model
- Entered into what Black’s lawyers described as ‘casual, consensual’ relationship
Billionaire financier Leon Black gave his Russian mistress £2million ($2.5m) to make her eligible for a UK ‘golden visa’ in the hopes the fashion model would start a new life far away from his home in New York, it has been alleged.
Black, the former CEO of private equity firm Apollo Global Management, agreed to transfer millions of pounds to Guzel Ganieva in 2015 after she began to extort him by threatening to make their relationship public, according to court filings.
The American introduced Ganieva to senior lawyers in London and New York before wiring her enough money to be eligible for the Tier 1 visa, which allowed foreigners to settle in the UK if they invested at least £2million in UK companies.
Black, the former CEO of private equity firm Apollo Global Management, agreed to transfer millions of pounds to Guzel Ganieva in 2015, according to court filings
Ganieva had moved to New York to pursue her career as a fashion model and, in 2008, began what Black’s lawyers described as a ‘casual, episodic, and completely consensual’ relationship with the married billionaire, who lent her nearly $1m (£800) to help pay the rent on a Manhattan apartment, according to the Financial Times.
The Russian’s affair with Black became public last March, when she went on Twitter to claim she had been ‘bullied, manipulated, threatened, and coerced . . .[and] forced to sign an NDA’. She later sued the tycoon in New York, alleging abuse.
Black (pic) introduced Ganieva to senior lawyers in London and New York before wiring her enough money to be eligible for the Tier 1 visa
Ganieva allegations include that Black forced her to fly to Florida to ‘satisfy the sex needs’ of billionaire paedophile Jeffrey 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 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.’
Black, who is married to Broadway theatre producer Debra Black, has in turn responded with a federal lawsuit that claims she conspired with a group of lawyers and wealthy businessman to air false rape allegations in an attempt to force him out of Apollo.
She denies this.
Ganieva is pictured (left) with pals Natane Boudreau and Claudia Mason in 2011
Ganieva (left at an event in 2011) branded Black a ‘violent, sadistic’ sexual predator who raped and harassed her before coercing her into signing a non-disclosure agreement in a defamation lawsuit
Black stepped down from his role as CEO of Apollo in march after he was revealed as an associate of paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, left. Black (right) was with Epstein at a screening of the film Capote in 2005
The businessman claims Ganieva began to threaten him that she would ‘go public, and ruin his family, his business, and his life’, according to court papers.
He offered her a $18m financial settlement and introduced her to several lawyers in the hope of getting her a UK visa.
It previously emerged Black had paid disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein $158m (£126m) for tax avoidance services that saved him at least $1.3bn, although he was not involved with his criminal activities.
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.
Black is seen with his wife Debra Black in 2017
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