Leon Black Paid $158 Million to Epstein. FBI Testimony Alleged a Trafficking Ring. No Charges.

Leon Black, founder of Apollo Global Management and one of the most powerful figures in American finance, paid Jeffrey Epstein at least $158 million over five years [1]. An FBI victim interview states that Black "ran a sex trafficking ring" and introduced victims to Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Prince Andrew [2]. A second victim — a 16-year-old with Mosaic Down Syndrome — alleges Black violently raped her at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse in 2001 or 2002 [3]. The U.S. Virgin Islands government concluded that "Epstein used the money Black paid him to partially fund his operations in the Virgin Islands" — then let Black pay $62.5 million to make the claims disappear [4]. The Manhattan District Attorney's office investigated Black for sexual assault, found victims credible, and filed no charges [5]. The Senate Finance Committee later determined that Black's actual payments to Epstein totaled $170 million — $12 million more than previously known — and that the money directly financed Epstein's sex trafficking operations [6]. A billionaire paid $158 million to a convicted sex offender. The FBI documented victim testimony alleging he ran his own trafficking ring. Two separate government bodies investigated. Nobody filed charges. At least 1,668 DOJ documents mention Leon Black's name [1].

On April 10, 2020, an FBI agent conducted a telephonic interview with a woman who said she met Leon Black in 2008 while modeling. The resulting FBI 302 — a standard interview memorandum — is one of the most disturbing documents in the Epstein corpus [2]. The victim told agents that Black "promised her drugs," "manipulated and sexually abused" her, and "used a lot of threats." She stated that Black flew her to Jeffrey Epstein's home in Florida, where both Black and an unidentified individual "were yelling at her, telling her that Epstein had a sex addiction" and that "if she did not have sex with him then something terrible would happen to her and it would affect her life" [2]. The victim did not have sex with Epstein on that occasion. She and Black left. But the FBI document continues with a sentence that stands alone in the Epstein files: "BLACK ran a sex trafficking ring." The victim told agents she "constantly tried to run away." That Black "hurt her more" when she resisted. That "every sexual encounter BLACK had with her was nonconsensual." Black told the victim "he was friends with the police, EPSTEIN and HARVEY WEINSTEIN" [2]. The document records that around 2014, the victim "felt sick and felt like she had been poisoned," and that "BLACK forced his way into her apartment and raped her." She fled the country. Black's associates followed her. In 2015, "BLACK told her that he would pay people to destroy her life." He told her "he had worked for the FBI." She signed a non-disclosure agreement with Black that fall [2]. The FBI also recorded that Black "transferred ten million dollars to EPSTEIN in or around 2015" and that "other women that [the victim] knew had been abused by BLACK were introduced to EPSTEIN" [2]. A separate FBI 302 from April 23, 2020 corroborates the same account [7].

In January 2023, a second victim came forward to the Manhattan District Attorney's office. Internal DOJ emails from June 28, 2023 memorialize the details [8]. The victim told investigators she was introduced to Ghislaine Maxwell around 2001 or 2002, when she was 17, by a woman from her gymnastics studio in Northern Virginia. Maxwell and Epstein watched movies with her, told her to sit in Epstein's lap, and flew her between Palm Beach, St. Thomas, and New York [8]. On one occasion, the victim was driven from Virginia to Epstein's Manhattan townhouse. Epstein introduced her to Black by name — "Leon" — and told her she would give him a massage. What followed, according to the victim, was a violent sexual assault [8]. The internal DOJ memo states: "Black was very violent, tore her clothes off, bit her vagina, forced sex toys into her." The victim "needed medical attention, bleeding." Black "left her money on the table before he left the room." Epstein took the money [8]. The victim was 16 years old. She had Mosaic Down Syndrome [3]. A separate internal DOJ document — call notes from a conversation with Wigdor LLP attorney Jeanne Christensen on May 26, 2023 — records that "Black used adult sex toys in victim's rectum and vagina. Victim felt severe pinching in her vagina and began bleeding from her rectum; Black and others at Epstein's house would not take her to the doctor and instead flew her out of NY the next day" [3]. The victim was trafficked by Epstein and Black to at least 25 different men, according to the DOJ record [3]. She described Black as "looking like Shrek." When shown a photograph, she confirmed it was him [8].

The New York County District Attorney's office opened an investigation into Leon Black for a sexual assault that allegedly occurred in New York City in 2001. Internal DOJ emails dated June 9, 2023 contain detailed call notes from the investigation [5]. The DANY investigation found the victim credible, noting "the similarity in the sexual assault (biting)" across multiple accusers as a factor in their assessment [5]. The DA's office had medical and therapy records. The victim had been interviewed by zoom and phone. Her outcry — years later — was to her adopted mother and other family members [5]. But the notes end with a devastating line: "Charges seem unlikely but they are still investigating" [5]. No charges were ever filed. A separate email chain shows the US Attorney's Office (Southern District of New York) was coordinating with the FBI's Child Exploitation/Human Trafficking unit on the Leon Black investigation as late as July 2023. An AUSA wrote to an FBI special agent: "Do you have time for a call to discuss a victim who recently came to our attention with connections to the Epstein/Maxwell case? This victim has identified other potential traffickers" [9]. Multiple victims. Multiple government investigations. Medical records documenting injuries consistent with the allegations. The biting pattern independently corroborated across separate accusers. And the DA's own assessment: 'Charges seem unlikely.' Attorney Jeanne Christensen of Wigdor LLP wrote to the US Attorney's Office on July 21, 2023: "It has been discovered that Leon Black paid 62.5 million to USVI — and this does not include payments of money to individual women — it's outrageous that criminal charges have not been brought against him. I've heard one lawyer represents ten women that he sexually assaulted" [10]. Leon Black's attorney, Susan Estrich, has denied all allegations, calling them "false and fraudulent" [11].

Between 2012 and 2017, Leon Black paid approximately $158 million to Southern Trust Company, Jeffrey Epstein's corporate entity in the U.S. Virgin Islands [4]. Black's public position has been that the payments were for "services rendered and value received" — tax and estate planning advisory work [12]. An independent review by law firm Dechert LLP, commissioned by Apollo's board in 2021, confirmed the $158 million figure and characterized the payments as related to tax planning [12]. But the USVI settlement agreement tells a different story. Its own language states: "WHEREAS, Jeffrey Epstein used the money Black paid him to partially fund his operations in the Virgin Islands" [4]. The Senate Finance Committee, led by Senator Ron Wyden, later determined that Black's actual payments totaled $170 million — $12 million more than the Dechert review identified [6]. The Committee found that most of Southern Trust's revenue came from the fees Black paid, and concluded that "money paid by Black to Epstein was used to finance Epstein's sex trafficking operations" [6]. Leon Black was the primary revenue source for the company that the U.S. Senate says financed Epstein's trafficking. A major financial institution waited nearly seven years to report the transactions to the Treasury Department, potentially violating federal money laundering laws [6]. In January 2023, Black agreed to pay the USVI $62.5 million in cash to resolve all potential Epstein-related claims — buying himself immunity from criminal prosecution in the territory. Of that amount, $15 million was earmarked for a victim trust fund [4]. The settlement was negotiated while the USVI was considering a lawsuit that would have accused Black of directly aiding Epstein's sex trafficking operation through his payments to Southern Trust [13].

The FBI testimony in EFTA00173803 does not describe Leon Black as a passive associate of Jeffrey Epstein. It describes him as a node in a trafficking network. The first victim told the FBI she "was introduced to GHISLAINE MAXWELL and PRINCE ANDREW, among others" through Black's connections to Epstein [2]. The victim stated that "other women that [she] knew had been abused by BLACK were introduced to EPSTEIN" — meaning Black was not only receiving victims from Epstein's network but also feeding victims into it [2]. Black told the victim "he was friends with the police, EPSTEIN and HARVEY WEINSTEIN" [2]. The second victim's testimony corroborates the Maxwell connection from a completely different angle. She described being introduced to Maxwell at 17, being flown between Epstein properties, and being handed off to Black at Epstein's townhouse for a violent assault [8]. An Epstein email from September 2014 lists Black alongside Peter Thiel, Larry Summers, former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Bill Burns (then-CIA director), and leaders from Qatar, Dubai, and Mongolia as "welcome guests" [14]. The FBI's own Criminal Investigation Division summary — a document approved by the CID Assistant Director on July 17, 2024 — notes that the Manhattan DA investigated Black for "alleged ties to Epstein network" [16]. Despite all of this, the FBI concluded that Epstein was not running a sex trafficking ring for powerful men [17]. That conclusion sits uneasily next to their own interview transcript that states one of those powerful men "ran a sex trafficking ring" of his own.

The Epstein File Ranker corpus contains at least 1,668 DOJ documents mentioning Leon Black [1]. This investigation draws primarily on the most critical files — FBI interview transcripts, the USVI settlement agreement, DA investigation notes, and AUSA correspondence. But these documents have significant limitations. The FBI 302s record what victims told agents, not independently verified facts. The DANY investigation notes explicitly state there was "very little corroboration" and "no outcry witnesses until years later" [5]. Black's representatives have consistently denied all allegations of sexual misconduct. His attorney Susan Estrich has called the claims "false and fraudulent" [11]. Black pursued his own RICO lawsuit against former Apollo co-founder Josh Harris and accuser Guzel Ganieva, alleging a conspiracy to destroy his reputation — though a federal judge dismissed it as "glaringly deficient" [18]. The Ganieva defamation lawsuit was dismissed based on a 2015 NDA, upheld on appeal in January 2025 [19]. Not all of these documents have been fully processed through the ranking pipeline. Additional unprocessed volumes may contain evidence that adds context or contradiction to the findings presented here. One federal lawsuit remains active: Jane Doe v. Black (1:23-cv-06418, S.D.N.Y.), alleging Black raped a 16-year-old with Mosaic Down Syndrome at Epstein's townhouse. In September 2024, a federal judge denied Black's motion to dismiss, allowing the case to proceed toward trial [15]. The files linked below are the government's own records. Read them.