Russell Simmons Suing Ex Wife Over Selling Shares To Get Husband Out Of Federal Charges

Russell Simmons is taking his ex wife to court over energy drinks. His ex Kimora Lee Simmons and her new husband, Tim Leissner, are accused of using shares of Celsius Energy Drink to pay for Leissner’s legal fees.

According to The Blast, the hip hop mogul is suing Kimora Lee Simmons and her current hubby as he claims that his shares are being used as collateral to bond Leissner out of criminal charges against him by federal authorities.

The lawsuit by Simmons claims that they invested millions of dollars into the Celsius Energy Drink company. It is alleged in the documents that Simmons’ ex and her new hubby, “conspired with each other, aided and abetted each other and together engaged in fraud by causing an unlawful conversion and fraudulent transfer” the shares to themselves without letting Russell know about it.

Leissner plead guilty to criminal conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in November 2018. A conspiracy to commit money laundering charge was also tacked on. Simmons claims that his ex’s current husband knew that he would need millions to get him out of this situation, $44 million to be exact, to stay out of jail. That is what he alleges prompted the sale of those shares.

It is alleged that Russell Simmons sent a letter to his ex-wife on May 5th, asking her to do the right thing and then the lawsuit would go away. He wrote, “to get the important family matter of the Celsius shares to a close so that we can put it behind us and carry on as the loving united front we have always been.”

The terms of the lawsuit are requesting damages against Kimora and Leissner. Russell also believes that he should be awarded restitution for the stolen shares.