Apollo Global co-founder Leon Black was very close with serial child molester Jeffrey Epstein and funded the abuser's extravagant lifestyle with $158 million in payments between 2012 and 2017. Apollo hired Dechert to investigate Eptein's ties with Leon Black.
Black paid Epstein $50 million in 2013, $70 million in 2014 and $30 million the following year.
That sort of compensation is unusual. Estate planning attorneys and tax advisers are typically paid by the hour or by the transaction. IRS regulations forbid tax practitioners from charging contingent fees “in connection with any matter before the Internal Revenue Service.”
Private equity underwriters (PEU) hate paying money to Uncle Sam but love taking cash from the federal wallet. If Jeffrey Epstein was such a tax genius why didn't Black use him at Apollo.
Apollo never retained Epstein for any services
Not that Black and Epstein didn't try, according to Dechert's report.
While Black did not try to pressure his co-founders to use Epstein, he did positively comment on the substantial value of Epstein’s services and, at Epstein’s repeated request, did try to introduce Epstein to his co-founders. In the end, neither co-founder hired Epstein or consulted with him on their personal matters. In light of these facts, the statement that Black “never promoted” Epstein is not false but could have been more precise. And it is clear that no Apollo employee other than Black ever seriously considered hiring Epstein, much less actually retained him.
Extravagant payments for tax advice fail the smell test.
Black was a frequent visitor to Epstein’s Manhattan mansion, confided personal matters to him and visited his homes around the globe.
In one dispute over Epstein's egregious fees Jeffrey "referenced personal matters shared in confidence." Is that subtle blackmail? Epstein is not alive to answer the question.
Dechert investigated on behalf of Apollo's concerns. This was not a criminal investigation.
Dechert interviewed more than 20 witnesses (some more than once), including Black, current and former Apollo employees, the co-founders of Apollo, current and former Family Office employees, and current and former legal counsel to obtain their recollection of events that may have been relevant to Dechert’s investigation. With only one exception, Dechert interviewed every witness that it had requested; that witness, a former employee of the Family Office, declined to participate in the investigation but is not believed to have any additional information likely to be material to the investigation.
Dechert did not interview Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, his chef Adam Perry Lang, chief pilot Larry Visoski or any employees of Jeffrey Epstein.
As Dechert said they found no evidence of Black's involvement with Epstein's international pedophile operation despite Black having a "social relationship with Epstein from approximately the mid-1990’s to 2018."
Payments were made on an ad hoc basis based on Black’s perceived value of Epstein’s work. Dechert has seen no evidence suggesting that Black ever compensated Epstein for any service other than Epstein’s legitimate advice on trust and estate planning, tax issues, issues relating to artwork, Black’s airplane, Black’s yacht, and other similar matters, philanthropic issues, and the operation of the Family Office. Moreover, such advice was vetted consistently by Black’s other advisors, including Family Office employees, Paul Weiss, and other outside legal, accounting and tax professionals.
The above mentioned Paul Weiss refused to be interviewed by Dechert.
Black regularly visited Epstein’s townhouse in New York to either discuss business or to meet other prominent guests who were visiting Epstein, including well known businessmen, political figures, diplomats, scientists and celebrities. In general, one-on-one breakfast meetings between Black and Epstein would be more common for business meetings, whereas afternoon meetings with other guests would be more common for social visits.
Leon Black recalls only flying on Epstein's Lolita Express one time. He made two visits to Little St. James, Epstein's private island in the Caribbean. Locals call it "Pedophile Island" and "Island of Sin." Black had family with him for these trips.
As their relationship fractured Black loaned Epstein over $30 million. Despite requests for repayment over $20 million stood outstanding when Epstein committed suicide in a New York City jail.
"Good friend who frequently visited" does not fit with completely unaware of Espetin's pedophile engineered life. Paying a friend for tax advice on a percentage basis (to the tune of $178 million) fails the smart investor test. Black is way more than a smart investor.
Elements of Leon Black's Epstein story sound whitewashed. That does not mean he is guilty of any crimes. That would require an investigation into areas Dechert avoided.
Update:
Despite the broad mandate of “any Apollo affiliate” the report omits numerous ties between Epstein and Apollo executives.
For example, John Hannan, a senior partner and co-founder at Apollo, reportedly made a $166,667 donation to Epstein's foundation and replaced Epstein on the Black Foundation Board in 2013. Those details were not included in the report.
On a similar note, Marc Rowan, an Apollo co-founder and senior director, reportedly met with Epstein at his townhouse a few years ago. That detail did not make into the Dechert report either. Mr. Rowan is expected to become Apollo’s CEO by July despite previously stepping away from day-to-day duties last summer to make “more time for his Hamptons restaurants.”
Likewise, William Mack, a founder and former managing partner of Apollo Real Estate Advisors, reportedly donated to Epstein’s charity. That donation was not included in the Dechert report either.
Dechert’s report says they were assisted in document gathering by Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. A footnote in the report says that firm has previously served as Apollo’s outside counsel, which creates a potential conflict.
Update 1-28-21: Ghislaine Maxwell said in a deposition that she learned of Epstein's child abuse from the newspaper when he was charged. That's as laughable as Lord John Browne's deposition for the Texas City refinery explosion that killed 15 people and injured 180.
Update 1-31-21: Someone else noticed the odd nature of Black hiring a nonprofessional and then paying him an outrageous sum of money
Update 12-31-21: A jury found Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell guilty of sex trafficking underage girls.
Update 1-9-22: A jury convicted Ghislaine Maxwell, however the behavior of one juror could result in the judgement being thrown out of court. That juror is an Executive Assistant for The Carlyle Group. What are the odds a low level PEU employee could indirectly help Leon Black? Irony or just the ubiquitous nature of the greed and leverage boys?
Update 1-25-22: Leon Black sued Apollo co-founder Josh Harris for conspiring against him with Black's illicit lover. These people do not know when to shut up and slither away. I imagine Black's wife has told him to keep his balls/wallet inside his pants and quit thinking with his crotch/billfold.
Update 6-29-22: Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell got 20 years for her crimes, however the powerful people who abused girls are yet to be named.
Update 11-29-22: Reuters reported:
Leon Black, the billionaire co-founder of private equity firm Apollo Global Management Inc, was sued on Monday by a woman who said he raped her two decades ago in the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's Manhattan mansion.
