LEON FACES INQUIRY
‘Epstein’ target in Virgin Is.
Authorities in the US Virgin Islands will issue subpoenas to Leon Black and his private-equity giant, Apollo Global Management, demanding that they fork over details of any ties to pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Black, a billionaire buyout king who is chairman of the Museum of Modern Art, has come under scrutiny for maintaining ties with Epstein — who killed himself in jail last year while facing federal sextrafficking charges — even after Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea to procuring a minor for sex. Apollo said in a statement that Epstein didn’t do business with the firm.
The subpoenas are part of a lawsuit that Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise N. George filed against Epstein’s estate in January, accusing him of sexually abusing underage girls as recently as last year on his private islands, Little St. James and Great St. James, both part of the USVI.
Last month, an Epstein accuser claimed in newly unsealed court documents that Epstein and his alleged madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, used the private islands to host “constant” orgies, and once flew in a group of European models to indulge their sexual fetishes. Maxwell has denied the allegations.
George’s office — which wants Epstein’s estate to forfeit the islands and could distribute the more than $500 million he left behind to his victims in the region — filed a copy of a sweeping subpoena with a court there last week seeking information about Apollo’s alleged relationship with Epstein and related entities, records show.
As The Post has reported, Black listed Epstein as a director at his charity until the end of 2012, which he chalked up to a clerical error. Black — who has said he was “completely unaware” of the sextrafficking charges against Epstein — has said the pervert money manager gave him advice on taxes, estate planning and philanthropy.
In 2015, a company tied to Black’s philanthropic foundation donated $10 million to a charity backed by Epstein.
Black also reportedly donated millions to the MIT Media Lab and Harvard professors at Epstein’s urging.
Authorities have asked Apollo for financial statements and account records going back to 1998, along with any correspondence the firm had with Epstein or his companies over the period between then and last year, according to a copy provided to The Post.