Kimora Lee Simmons is refusing to leave her $25M Beverly Hills mansion bought by estranged husband

Former banker Tim Leissner was arrested, in June 2018, for his part in a $4.5 billion mega-fraud against Malaysia’s 1MDB fund

In 2022, as a cooperating state witness, disgraced banker Tim Leissner testified that he bought the Beverly Hills estate with money stolen from 1MDB

However, he did not forfeit the huge estate, then sold it to real estate moguls, the billionaire Reuben brothers

Leissner is serving his prison sentence but his ex-wife Simmons has continued to live in the the legally contested property for five years

Simmons has not made mortgage or rent payments in that time and she’s allegedly refusing to vacate the house, court docs state

However two months after the sale in 2021, Simmons filed a lawsuit, challenging the sale-leaseback real estate transaction

Simmons claimed that the sell to the new owners of the estate was illegal, because it was fraudulently transacted by Leissner without her permission

Reality TV star Kimora Lee Simmons [photo], has refused to move out of a $25 million Beverly Hills mansion purchased by her estranged husband with money he stole from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, 1MDB. Simmons has lived in the the legally contested property for five years

Baby Phat founder and reality TV star Kimora Lee Simmons, 51, reportedly, has refused to move out of her residence whose ownership has been at the heart of a long-running court battle.
For the last five years Lee Simmons been living in the $25 million Beverly Hills mansion purchased by her estranged husband Tim Leissner.
The disgraced banker by his own admission, purchased the property with money that he stole from 1MDB, the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund which has been at the heart of a $4.5 billion fraud, one of the world’s largest in history.
According to court documents Lee Simmons who has not made mortgage or rent payments in that time, it is alleged, is refusing to vacate the house, claiming that Leissner, sold the property fraudulently and without authority to real estate moguls, the Reuben brothers.

The contested property has a massive footprint in the heart of Beverly Hills

It boasts of seven bedrooms, sitting on 3.7 acres

The seven-bedroom estate, which sits on 3.7 acres in the heart of Beverly Hills, can be seen, at least from the outside, in her current reality show, “Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane”.
The legal dispute now in its fifth year
A trial-setting conference is slated for February 25 in the ongoing property wrangling which now in its fifth year, is primarily a civil dispute over possession, title and liability that stems from the distressed refinancing and sale-leaseback of the luxury property.
It all comes as Leissner, a German national, surrendered to federal prison in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on February 6, eight years after pleading guilty for his role in the $4.5 billion fraud.

Tim Leissner was married to Kimora Lee Simmons. The $25 million Beverly Hills estate was bought with stolen 1MDB money, which Leissner admitted in 2022, while testifying against Roger Ng, but he did not forfeit the property which he then sold to the Reuben brothers

Leissner was the government’s star witness in the criminal trial of his former Goldman Sachs colleague Roger Ng in federal court in Brooklyn. In 2022, Leissner testified that he bought the property, at 25 Beverly Park Circle, with $25 million stolen from the people f Malaysia.
Ng is currently serving a 10-year jail sentence for his role.
While there is no evidence or suggestion that Simmons was involved in 1MDB, that the $25 million Beverly Hills home was bought with stolen 1MDB money in 2017, is not in dispute.
The case concluded with the unusual fact hat Leissner did not have to forfeit the mansion. That singular decision also leaves the door open for Malaysia to seek restitution by demanding the estate from its current owners, along with the myriad other assets that Leissner bought with stolen money.

Leissner turned state witness and his 2022 testimony helped to convict former Goldman Sachs employee Roger Ng, [photo], for the $4.5 billion fraud. Ng was sentenced to prison for 10 years

The massive fraud began in 2009 with the creation of a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad. Within days, $700 million had been siphoned out of it.
That same year, a Wharton dropout named Jho Low, described by US and international investigators and prosecutors as the fraud’s architect, began buying trophy real estate in Manhattan with stolen cash and throwing money around New York City clubs.
The investigation reportedly kicked off after Low’s high-rolling life style caught the eye of investigators.

High roller Jho Low, [photo], allegedly was the architect of the fraud. Low, who remains a fugitive, maintains his innocence. He gave up around $700 million in assets to the DOJ without admitting guilt

Low, who remains a fugitive, while continuing to maintain his innocence. He ceded around $700 million in assets to the Department Of Justice without admitting guilt.
He still faces criminal charges in the Eastern District of New York for money laundering and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, and in DC for illegal campaign contributions.
But “if Low was 1MDB’s architect, Leissner was its engineer,” some say.
The six-year fraud, which benefited Malaysia’s then-Prime Minister Najib Razak, Low and others, was ultimately investigated by 10 different countries.
In June 2018, Leissner was arrested for his part in the mega-fraud.

The six-year fraud benefited Malaysia’s then-Prime Minister Najib Razak, seen [photo], with his wife, Rosmah Mansor, in 2017

Khadem al Qubaisi, [photo], who who was implicated in the fraud and is now in prison, his real estate holdings forfeited

As the judge in the Roger Ng case noted: “Leissner admitted to efforts to move and hide assets, including ownership of his entities like Keyway [the holding company for the Beverly Hills mansion] out of apparent concern the US government would seek to disgorge the Property as restitution.”
The Beverly Hills home is also unusual because other trophy real estate assets bought with stolen 1MDB cash have been seized — like Low’s New York and LA properties, including a $30.55 million condo on Columbus Circle.
Caught in the net of a record civil asset forfeiture case, a penthouse, in Walker Tower at 212 W. 18th St., NYC, owned by Khadem al-Qubaisi, a former high-ranking Emirati businessman and the ex-managing director of Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company [IPIC] was seized and sold. The penthouse bought for a record $51 million purchase in 2014, was seized and sold by the US government for a paltry $18 million in 2020.
al-Qubaisi, a key figure in the global 1Malaysia Development Berhad corruption scandal, was convicted in the UAE in 2019 for misappropriating funds, money laundering, and corruption and sentenced to15 years in prison.
Celebrities who were gifted pricey assets bought with stolen 1MDB money were also asked by the US government to return them, most complied.

Malaysian police seized cash and a vast stash of jewelry and luxury handbags, estimated value of $273 million, from six properties linked to ousted leader, Najib Razak. Police, spokesperson Amar Singh shows photo of seized items in Kuala Lumpur on June 27, 2018

To date, the government has successfully recovered and repatriated around $1.4 billion to Malaysia — the largest recovery in DOJ history.
Leonardo DiCaprio, for example, returned a Picasso and a Basquiat worth a combined $12.2 million and Marlon Brando’s Oscar, worth $600,000, all gifted to him by Low with 1MDB money.
Curiously, Simmons’ uber sized estate home in California, remains an outlier.
The $25 million property is now the subject of this messy court case. Leissner claimed in court during Ng’s 2022 trial that he sold his assets to Hong Kong-based company, Newland.
According to some sources, Newland may have been a front company. Back in November 2020, Keyway Pride, an LLC owned by Leissner and held by Newland, sold the Beverly Hills property to the billionaire brothers and real estate moguls David Reuben and Simon Reuben, after interest on a $12 million mortgage he had taken out to cover “living expenses” was not paid.
As part of the deal, Leissner and Simmons were also to pay $67,000 a month to continue to live in the property, according to court documents.
However, Simmons has been living on the property since November 2020 with no rent paid.

Simmons, seen [photo], with then husband Tom Leissner and their son, allegedly signed a Keyway resolution in October 2020, authorizing the sale and leaseback of the property. She has challenged the deal. She says her signature was procured through misrepresentation and abuse of trust by Leissner

While Simmons later challenged the sale and leaseback of the property, in October 2020, she allegedly signed a Keyway resolution authorizing the intricate deal.
She since challenged the veracity claiming her signature was procured through misrepresentation and abuse of trust by Leissner, according to the defendants’ complaint, filed in January 2021, two months after the home sold to the Reuben brothers.
In his 2022 testimony during the trial of Ng, Leissner said that after his 2018 arrest he continued to reside in the home where he and Simmons were raising their now 10-year-old son.
Leissner did not specify when he left the home, but the estranged couple no longer live together and neither has paid the mortgage, despite the continued stay on the estate by Simmons.

Baby Phat founder, Kimora Lee Simmons, [right], on her reality show, displays her wealth of expensive designer bags

On “Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane,”Lee Simmons showcases her massive collection of designer bags, reputedly nearly 700, including rare editions of Hermès, Birkin and Kelly bags

Simmons eclectic collection of valuables also includes luxury sports gear, including a $7,500 Chanel rubber basketball and a $9,000 Louis Vuitton World Cup soccer ball

The lawsuit filed by Simmons in January 2021. The ongoing case is between cross-defendants and plaintiffs Keyway Pride, Leissner and Simmons; and cross-plaintiffs and defendants 25 Beverly Park Circle Propco LLC, Cantervale Limited and Chicago Title Company.
In the lawsuit, Simmons claimed that the new owners of the house — the Reuben brothers — illegally bought the Beverly Hills house, because it was bought without her permission.
None of this drama, however, is part of Simmons’ new reality show, “Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane,” which features at least the exterior of the Beverly Hills home. In a clip promoting the E! reality series, she says: “My name is Kimora and I am a hoarder — but a luxury hoarder,” as she shows off her collection of 698 luxury handbags.

Simmons once posted on social media about her friendship with former Malaysia First Lady, Rosmah Mansor, [photo]. Addicted to shopping, she has been as been compared to Imelda Marcos for the way she amasses luxury goods bought with stolen money

It has been said that the six-year fraud benefited Malaysia’s then first family. Police seized over $273 million, in cash and valuables from Mansor and her husband, Prime Minister Najib Razak

Simmons once posted on social media about her friendship with Rosmah Mansor, the diamond-collecting, handbag-stockpiling wife of ex-Prime Minister Najib. Mansor has been compared to Imelda Marcos for the way she amasses luxury goods bought with stolen money. Her shopping spree were legendary.
Unlike the case for the former first lady, there is no suggestion Simmons’ was bought with stolen money.
In May 2018, shortly after the coalition led by PM Razak lost the general election in Malaysia, police seized Mansor’s collection – 12,000 pieces of jewellery, 423 watches and 567 luxury handbags stuffed with almost US$30 million in cash, with an estimated overall value of US$273 million.
Many of those handbags were ultimately returned, but others were auctioned by the government.