Billionaire Leon Black has sued the law firm representing his latest rape accuser over what he claims is a “life-destroying” campaign to put him behind bars on “false” assault charges.
Black, 72, is currently being sued by two women — Cheri Pierson and a woman named Jane Doe — who both say he raped them at Jeffrey Epstein’s home in 2002.
Both women are represented by Wigdor Law and lawyer Jeanne Christensen.
Jane Doe’s complaint details how he allegedly assaulted her on a massage table in Epstein’s home when she was 16. She said she had autism and Down mosaic syndrome and was traded to Black through Ghislaine Maxwell.
Christensen previously sued Black on behalf of another accuser, his ex-girlfriend Guzel Ganieva, but the case was dismissed because Ganieva had signed a non-disclosure agreement agreeing not to discuss her relationship with Black.
Now Black is claiming in new lawsuits that Wigdor has a history of “questionable ethics” and that lawyers have ignored evidence proving him innocent.
Black, 72, is currently being sued by two women — Cheri Pierson and a woman named Jane Doe — who both say he raped them at Jeffrey Epstein’s home in 2002.
Both women are represented by Wigdor Law and lawyer Jeanne Christensen
Black claims in his most recent lawsuit that Wigdor, whose other clients include Harvey Weinstein accusers, has a “unique business model” of suing or threatening to sue wealthy men in order to win settlements and take part.
Black paid Epstein $158 million over 5 years
Wigdor threatens to sue defendants with outrageous allegations that can only be avoided at the cost of a large settlement, of which Wigdor will receive a substantial share.
“When Leon Black was bold enough to reject this plan, Wigdor tried to teach him a lesson by running three separate headlines that he knew or should have known were false.”
Wigdor’s pattern of deliberately making false, life-threatening allegations without properly investigating their merits, or worse, reporting despite knowing they are false, must be stopped.”
His lawyers say there is “evidence” that Jane Doe is fabricating her story. It’s unclear exactly what that evidence is outside of conversations Black’s private investigators had with her estranged parents.
In those conversations they said she was never diagnosed with Down syndrome and autism as she claims, nor do they believe she was abused by Jeffrey Epstein.
He says his other accuser, Cheri Pierson, is a “serial litigant” and criminal whom he has never met.
He says that they are only going after him because their lawsuit against Ganieva failed.
Ganieva signed a non-disclosure agreement agreeing never to talk about their relationship in exchange for a years-long payment schedule that would have earned her $20 million.
Model Guzel Ganieva had an affair with Black and then sued him for rape. Her case was dismissed because she signed a non-disclosure agreement that prevented her from filing lawsuits against him
She took to Twitter anyway, years after signing the NDA, after the #MeToo movement swept the US.
Black denies raping her, insists their relationship was always consensual, and says he has not met either of the other two accusers.
However, he admits that he sent a private investigator to their families’ homes, calling the investigation necessary to counter the claims.
The lawsuits against Black coincide with new controversies over his payments to Jeffrey Epstein.
Between 2012 and 2017, he paid Epstein $158 million for what he says was financial advice.
He also donated $10 million to a charity run by Epstein, becoming the sole donor, and paid US Virgin Islands prosecutors $62 million to avoid being dragged into lawsuits against the late pedophile’s estate.
When asked why he paid the Virgin Islands, Black’s attorney told DailyMail.com it was similar to the payments made by banks like JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank, which were fined by the US government for continuing to do business with Epstein despite that they were aware of the allegations against him.
His reps have yet to explain why the Virgin Islands asked for his personal correspondence with Epstein or photos of his visits to his Caribbean island.
U.S. Virgin Islands prosecutors also have yet to explain why they went after Black with a subpoena, or why they accepted his plea.
Black with his wife, Debra. He denies having any knowledge of Epstein’s sex trafficking business