Leon Black Accused of Flying Model to Jeffrey Epstein Home for Sex Acts

(Bloomberg) -- The Russian model who accused Leon Black of sexually assaulting her alleged in an explosive new filing that the private equity billionaire flew her to Florida to meet with Jeffrey Epstein and engage in sex acts.

In an amended complaint filed Monday, Guzel Ganieva claimed that Black took her to Palm Beach to meet with Epstein, whom he called his “best friend,” around October 2008 while Epstein was serving a prison sentence for soliciting a minor for prostitution. Ganieva alleged that Black warned her not to tell anyone about the trip and threatened to plant heroin on her and frame her if she did.

At the time, Epstein was allowed to serve part of his sentence at his home on work release, up to 12 hours a day, six days a week, and she soon found herself alone in a room at his mansion with the two men, Ganieva alleged.

“Black and Epstein were situated close to one another, each facing Ms. Ganieva while in almost supine positions, as if they were waiting for her to get on top of them,” according to the complaint. “Indeed, Black indicated with his eyes that he wanted Ms. Ganieva to come and lay in between him and Epstein.”

The visit to Epstein’s home lasted no more than two hours and, back aboard the billionaire’s jet, Black was “visibly angry with Ms. Ganieva and her refusal to submit to Epstein,” according to the complaint.

‘Pure Fiction’

Black last month denied allegations leveled by Ganieva in her initial lawsuit, saying he never assaulted her, while admitting to what he described as a consensual affair. In a statement on Monday, Danya Perry, a lawyer for Black, said Ganieva’s new claims, like her earlier allegations, were “transparently false” and her complaint “frivolous.”

“The pleading she filed in June, and simultaneously broadcast to the world, was pure fiction,” Perry said, adding that her allegations were “expressly contradicted by her own words, through contemporaneous texts and recordings” and that now Ganieva had “abruptly changed her story.”

Black’s personal life and ties to Epstein have forced him to recede from high-profile roles. He has stepped down as chairman and chief executive officer of Apollo Global Management Inc., the alternative asset manager he co-founded that is responsible for generating the bulk of his estimated $11.6 billion wealth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He has also stepped down as chairman of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, or MoMA, after serving on its board since 1997.

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