A judge has denied Kimora Lee Simmons-Leissner and husband Tim Leissner's latest request to have Russell Simmon's fraud claims thrown out.
June 7, 2024, published at 8:05 PM ET
A court filing was obtained this week by RadarOnline.com revealed that a Los Angeles appeals judge has denied Kimora and Tim's latest request to drop the fraud claims. The couple argued that the record executive's case should be dismissed under California's anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) laws, which protect Californians from lawsuits that violate their right to freedom of expression.
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Kimora's husband, Tim, was convicted in 2018 in the embezzlement scheme of Malaysian wealth fund 1MDB.
Tim and Kimora argued that Russell's complaint included “mixed causes of action,” meaning his claims arose from both protected and unprotected activities. Their argument stemmed from two letters in Russell's complaint, written by Kimora and Tim, about the shares and Tim's involvement in the corruption scandal of Malaysian wealth fund 1MDB.
The former Goldman Sachs investment banker pleaded guilty to federal foreign bribery and money laundering charges in November 2018 and agreed to pay $44 million in restitution to avoid prison time.
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Kimora and Russell were married from 1998 to 2009.
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Russell, who was married to Kimora from 1998 to 2009, claimed in May 2018 that Kimora and Tim “knew full well that [Tim] would need tens of millions of dollars to avoid jail time, maintain bail, and forfeit money for victim compensation,” it said unlawfully acquired four million shares of his shares in the energy drink company Celsius to pay Tim's legal fees.
The Baby Phat founder filed the lawsuit in 2021, claiming that more than $200 million was paid out to Tim and another alleged co-conspirator in the 1MDB scheme. His complaint included two letters purportedly written by Kimora and Tim, which Russell claimed were written as part of a “cover-up” by the couple, who allegedly tried to “put a new spin on the conspiracy and fraud they had accomplished'.
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The record executive filed the lawsuit against Kimora and Tim in 2021.
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The letters – dated June 26, 2018 and February 5, 2020 – stated the share transfers as temporary loans to cover Tim's bond, authorized by Tim as manager of Russell's investment company, Nu Horizons. However, Russell claimed that the letters “do not reflect legitimate loans, but rather are further evidence of [Kimora and Tim’s] fraudulent scheme.”
Kimora and Tim filed separate motions to dismiss the complaint under the anti-SLAPP statute, but both motions were denied by a court in 2022.
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The couple argued that Russell's complaint should be dismissed for violating California's Anti-SLAPP laws.
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The couple immediately appealed, but justice came on Wednesday, June 5 Mary Straton moved to uphold the decision, calling the couple's argument “a challenge.”
She wrote on behalf of the appeals court: “We disagree and believe that the complaint alleges that the two letters are merely incidental and evidence of the fraud claims. They do not form the basis of the lawsuits themselves. denial of both anti-SLAPP motions.”
