Kimora Lee Simmons stepped into the limelight as a young model, quickly becoming a fixture in hip-hop royalty. During her high school years, she began dating Russell Simmons, the co-founder of Def Jam, who was 35 at the time. Their relationship blossomed into marriage in 1998, and they welcomed two daughters. However, by 2006, they had separated, finalizing their divorce in 2009.

In the summer of 2008, Kimora’s personal life took a new turn when she began a relationship with actor Djimon Hounsou. The couple celebrated the arrival of a son in 2009, but parted ways in 2012.

Enter Tim Leissner, an investment banker with Goldman Sachs, who became Kimora’s husband in 2014. The couple’s family grew with the birth of their child in 2015. Shortly after their marriage, Kimora and Tim invested in a lavish Beverly Hills estate, paying a staggering $25 million for the property. Nestled within a private gated community, the nearly 20,000-square-foot mansion boasts seven bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a home theater, lush gardens, a sunken tennis court, and a mosaic-tiled swimming pool.

The tale takes a complicated twist here. A snapshot from a 2014 party hosted by Harvey Weinstein captures Kimora and Tim alongside Russell Simmons and actress Shannon Elizabeth. While Shannon Elizabeth remained free of controversy, Russell Simmons has since faced serious allegations of sexual misconduct.

In 2017, the Beverly Park Circle mansion was acquired under an entity controlled by Leissner. However, the following year, in 2018, Leissner found himself in legal trouble, as he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and money laundering linked to the infamous multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal.

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The 1MDB Connection

The property at 25 Beverly Park Circle was purchased in 2017 through an entity controlled by Leissner. A year later, in 2018, Leissner pleaded guilty to conspiracy and money laundering charges tied to the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal.

1Malaysia Development Berhad, better known as 1MDB, was created in 2009 as a sovereign wealth fund intended to promote economic development in Malaysia. Instead, it became the center of what U.S. prosecutors described as one of the largest kleptocracy schemes in modern history.

Over several years, approximately $4.5 billion was siphoned out of the fund through a web of shell companies, fake joint ventures, and offshore accounts. U.S. and international investigators alleged that Malaysian financier Jho Low orchestrated much of the scheme, with assistance from bankers, including Leissner and fellow Goldman Sachs executive Roger Ng.

The stolen money funded an almost cartoonishly extravagant lifestyle.

Billions were funneled into luxury real estate in New York and Los Angeles. Private jets were chartered. Superyachts were purchased. Artwork by Picasso and Basquiat was acquired. Hollywood films were financed. Nightclubs were flooded with champagne.

The scandal even reached the Academy Awards.

Money from 1MDB helped finance the film “The Wolf of Wall Street” (which ironically told the story of the financial crimes committed by disgraced stockbroker Jordan Belfort). Actor Leonardo DiCaprio later returned a Picasso, a Basquiat, and Marlon Brando’s Oscar that prosecutors said were purchased with stolen funds and gifted to him. Rapper Pras Michel was later convicted in a separate case related to illegal lobbying tied to Low. Paris Hilton and other celebrities were reportedly paid to attend high-profile parties funded by the misappropriated money.

At the political level, Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Najib Razak was convicted in Malaysia for his role in the scandal. Jho Low remains a fugitive, though he has forfeited hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of assets.

Purchased With Stolen Funds

Leissner admitted in court that he helped move and disguise funds connected to the scheme. During sworn testimony in 2022 at the criminal trial of Roger Ng in federal court in Brooklyn, Leissner stated plainly that the $25 million used to purchase the Beverly Hills estate came from stolen 1MDB funds.

There is no allegation or evidence that Kimora Lee Simmons was involved in the fraud.

The U.S. Department of Justice ultimately recovered and repatriated approximately $1.4 billion to Malaysia, marking the largest asset forfeiture recovery in DOJ history. Luxury condos in Manhattan were seized. Los Angeles properties were sold. Artwork, jewelry, and memorabilia were clawed back.

But this particular Beverly Hills mansion was never forfeited.

Instead, it was refinanced, sold, and is now the subject of a civil ownership battle — making it one of the few high-profile real estate assets tied directly to admitted stolen 1MDB funds that remains in private hands rather than government custody.

The $67,000-Per-Month Problem

If most 1MDB-funded properties were seized and auctioned, how did this one slip through?

After purchasing the Beverly Hills mansion outright with $25 million in stolen funds, Leissner later took out a $12 million mortgage against the property. Court records indicate the loan was used in part to fund “living expenses.”

By late 2020, that loan had become distressed.

In November 2020, the property was sold to entities tied to billionaire real estate investors David and Simon Reuben. The transaction appears to have been structured as a distressed refinancing and sale-leaseback arrangement.

Under the terms outlined in court filings, Leissner and Simmons were permitted to remain in the home, at a reported rent of approximately $67,000 per month. According to sources familiar with the case and allegations made in court documents, that rent has not been paid.

On an annual basis, that comes out to just over $800,000. If accurate, unpaid rent over more than five years would total north of $4 million.

Kimora Challenges The Sale — And Stays Put

In January 2021, just two months after the property changed hands, Simmons filed a lawsuit in Beverly Hills challenging the validity of the sale.

She claims the transaction was executed without her proper authorization and that her signature on corporate documents tied to the sale was obtained through misrepresentation and abuse of trust by Leissner. The defendants, in turn, argue that Simmons signed a Keyway corporate resolution approving the transaction and that the sale was valid.

The legal fight now centers on possession, title, and liability.

But while the case works its way through the courts, Simmons has continued living in the mansion.

According to filings and sources cited in the dispute, neither Simmons nor Leissner has made mortgage or rent payments since the November 2020 transaction.

Leissner recently surrendered to federal prison to begin serving his two-year sentence tied to the 1MDB scandal. He has not actively participated in the civil case.

Kimora, meanwhile, remains in the home.

A trial-setting conference is scheduled later this month, but as of now, the legal status of the property remains unresolved.

A Mansion In Limbo

The situation creates an unusual financial and legal gray zone.

• The mansion was purchased with admitted stolen sovereign wealth funds.
• It was not seized by the U.S. government.
• It was later sold in a distressed transaction to new owners.
• The occupant is challenging that sale in court.
• And according to allegations in the case, millions in rent have gone unpaid while the dispute drags on.

So will Kimora move out? Will she start paying rent? Only time (and a court ruling) will tell!