Kimora Lee Simmons refuses to leave $25 million Beverly Hills mansion bought by estranged husband with stolen money: court case

Entrepreneur and reality TV star Kimora Lee Simmons spent about five years living in a contested $25 million Beverly Hills mansion her estranged husband bought with money he stole from 1MDB — a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund at the center of one of the world’s biggest billion-dollar frauds in history, The Post can reveal.

Simmons has made no mortgage or rent payments during that time, according to court documents, and is allegedly refusing to vacate the home.

She claims her estranged husband, disgraced banker Tim Leissner, fraudulently and without authority sold the property to real estate moguls the Reuben brothers.

The seven-bedroom property, 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.”

But what will happen to the property remains unclear as the legal dispute enters its fifth year.

The ongoing civil litigation regarding possession, title and liability stems from the distressed refinancing and sale-leaseback of the luxury property.

A settlement conference is scheduled for February 25. (Leissner has yet to comment or actively participate in the case, although he was served in person in New York on August 14.)

It all comes as Leissner, a German national, turned himself in at the federal prison in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on February 6 – eight years after pleading guilty to his role in the $4.5 billion fraud. Simmons was also in the news promoting her show.

In 2022, Leissner testified under oath that he bought the property at 25 Beverly Park Circle with $25 million that was stolen from the Malaysian people.

He testified as the government’s star witness in the criminal trial of his former Goldman Sachs colleague Roger Ng in federal court in Brooklyn. Ng is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence for his role. There is no evidence or suggestion that Simmons was involved in 1MDB.

No one disputes that the $25 million Beverly Hills home was bought with money stolen by 1MDB in 2017.

But the fact that Leissner didn’t have to give up the mansion is unusual — and leaves the door open for Malaysia to reclaim it from its current owners, along with any other assets Leissner bought with stolen money, sources told The Post. And it has quite a few.

The massive fraud began in 2009 with the creation of a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad. In a few days, 700 million dollars were extracted from it. That year, a Wharton dropout named Jho Low—described by U.S. and international investigators and prosecutors as the architect of the fraud—began buying trophy real estate in Manhattan with stolen money and throwing money around New York clubs.

The Post was the first publication to mention Low by name, pointing to his high-flying ways that caught the attention of investigators, sources later told The Post.

Low, who remains a fugitive, maintains his innocence but gave up about $700 million in assets to the DOJ without pleading guilty. He still faces criminal charges in the Eastern District of New York for money laundering and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and in D.C. for illegal campaign contributions.

But “if Low was the architect of 1MDB, Leissner was its engineer,” another source told The Post.

The six-year fraud – which benefited then Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Low and others – was eventually investigated by 10 different countries. And Leissner was arrested for his role in June 2018.

As the judge in Ng’s case said, “Leissner acknowledged efforts to move and hide assets, including ownership of his entities such as Keyway. [the holding company for the Beverly Hills mansion] out of apparent concern, the US government would seek to return the property as restitution.”

The Beverly Hills home is also unusual because other trophy real estate bought with cash stolen by 1MDB — such as Low’s New York and LA properties, including a $30.55 million apartment on Columbus Circle — have also been seized.

Another penthouse, in the Walker Tower at 212 W. 18th St., was bought for a record $51 million in 2014 by Khadem al Qubaisi, who was implicated in the fraud and is now in prison. The property was seized and sold by the US government for $18 million in 2020.

Celebrities who were given expensive assets bought with money stolen by 1MDB were also asked by the US government to return them in a record-breaking civil asset forfeiture case, and they did – mostly.

To date, the government has successfully recovered and repatriated approximately $1.4 billion to Malaysia – the largest recovery in DOJ history.

Leonardo DiCaprio, for example, returned a Picasso and a Basquiat worth a total of $12.2 million and Marlon Brando’s Oscar worth $600,000, all given to de Low with 1MDB money.

But Simmons’ home remains an anomaly — and is now the subject of this messy lawsuit.

Leissner claimed in court in Ng’s 2022 lawsuit that he sold his assets to Newland, a Hong Kong company.

But sources say Newland may have been a front company.

In November 2020, Leissner’s LLC, Keyway Pride, owned by Newland, sold the Beverly Hills property to 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” went unpaid, according to a source familiar with the deal. The Reuben brothers declined to comment.

As part of the settlement, Leissner and Simmons were also to pay $67,000 a month to continue living in the property, according to court documents.

However, Simmons “was [living] there since November 2020 and no rent has been paid to date,” a source with knowledge of the deal told The Post.

While Simmons later disputed the sale and lease of the property, in October 2020 she allegedly signed a Keyway resolution authorizing it, though she says her signature was obtained through misrepresentation and breach of trust by Leissner, according to the defendants’ complaint, filed in January 2021 — two months after the home was sold to the Reuben brothers.

Attorneys and representatives for Simmons did not return requests for comment, nor did Leissner’s attorney. In court testimony in Ng’s case, Leissner said he continued to live in the home after his 2018 arrest — he and Simmons have a 10-year-old son — but did not say when he left.

The estranged couple no longer live together, sources say, adding that neither Leissner nor Simmons “paid a dime” to live there.

In January 2021, Simmons filed a lawsuit in a Beverly Hills court. The pending 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 home’s new owners—the Reuben brothers—illegally bought the Beverly Hills home because it was bought without her permission.

None of that drama, however, is part of Simmons’ new reality show, “Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane,” which at least features the exterior of the Beverly Hills home. In a clip promoting the E! reality series, she says, “My name is Kimora and I’m a hoarder, but a luxury hoarder,” as she shows off her collection of 698 luxury bags.

Simmons once posted on social media about her friendship with Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former prime minister Najib, who collects diamonds and stocks handbags. Mansor has been compared to Imelda Marcos for the way she amasses luxury goods bought with stolen money. Simmons’ bag collection is even larger than Mansor’s – although there is no suggestion that Simmons was bought with stolen money.

This was not the case with Mansor. In May 2018, police seized his collection of 567 luxury bags shortly after Najib’s coalition lost the general election. Police were seen loading five trucks with orange Hermès boxes. Many of the bags were eventually returned; others were reportedly auctioned off by the government.