Ex-Apollo CEO claims Jeffrey Epstein duped him out of $60 million, refuses to answer NDA questions

Testifying before a House committee on Friday, former Apollo Global Management CEO Leon Black stated that Jeffrey Epstein duped him out of $60 million in financial advisory fees. Black, who paid Epstein a total of $158 million after hiring him as a financial advisor, cited a report concluding that the funds were for legitimate services. He also maintained that he had no knowledge of Epstein's crimes at the time and never participated in them.

"Let me state unequivocally that I have never abused a woman," he said to the committee, as per a CNBC report. "I have never been with an underage woman. I have never engaged in sex trafficking. I have never paid Epstein for access to women. I was never blackmailed by Epstein. I was not involved with, and did not know of, any of Epstein's heinous conduct." About the money he sent the serial sex offender, Black cited a 2021 Dechert report.

"The Dechert report concluded that I had paid Epstein $158 million," he said. "And Dechert examined the services Epstein rendered and determined that Epstein performed highly valuable and legitimate tax and estate planning services for my family office; that the tax work was responsible for billions of dollars in savings, and that all of Epstein's work had been vetted by reputable law and accounting firms," Black said.

The former CEO is set to be interviewed by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Friday. The committee has been interviewing wealthy and influential individuals who had ties to Epstein. Despite denying any role in Epstein's crime, Black was subpoenaed by House committee chair James Comer for a couple of reasons. One of them was because he had signed several NDAs, which could shed light on the investigation into Epstein.

The second was to appear for a deposition on July 16. "This is a result of refusing to answer specific questions about the NDAs and the terms. We believe that information is vital in our investigation. I will remind everyone that Mr. Black came in voluntarily, but they are refusing to disclose that. So I have issued the subpoena, and we are handing it to him as we speak," Comer told reporters. The decision to issue the subpoenas was supported by Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee, Robert Garcia.

"I completely support Chairman Comer's decision here. I think that Mr. Black is not answering questions about the NDAs. The NDAs are central to us understanding what actually happened. There are real accusations, and there are survivors who have accused Mr. Black of horrific things. He gave Jeffrey Epstein approximately $150 million. We still do not know for what," Garcia said. "There's no question that as soon as this interview started, the witness was going to answer critical questions. When you are asked questions about NDAs that relate directly to women and possible abuse, and you are unwilling to answer questions, I think we have got to elevate this."