Leon Black, co-founder of Apollo Global Management, told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Friday that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein deceived him about the tax deductibility of fees he paid, effectively stealing more than $60 million from him, according to CNBC.
In a prepared opening statement, Black said Epstein told him the fees were "tax-deductible, '60-cent dollars,'" a claim Black said he only later discovered was false. "What I believed to be $95 million of net fees paid to him over five years was actually $158 million," Black said. He denied any involvement in Epstein's criminal activities, stating he had never abused a woman, never engaged in sex trafficking, never paid Epstein for access to women, and was never blackmailed by Epstein. "I knew Jekyll. I didn't know Hyde," he said.
The closed-door session ended with Committee Chairman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, issuing two subpoenas to Black — one for all non-disclosure agreements Black is party to, and a second compelling him to appear for a deposition on July 16 — after Black declined to answer questions about the NDAs, according to CNN. "This is a result of refusing to answer specific questions about the NDAs, and the terms — we believe that information is vital to our investigation," Comer told reporters.
Black's attorney, Susan Estrich, called the subpoenas "a premeditated political decision" and said the committee "did not ask a single question about the legitimate payments to Epstein for professional services on tax and estate matters," according to the outlet.
The $158 million figure emerged from a 2021 review commissioned by Apollo's board and conducted by the law firm Dechert, which examined payments Black made to Epstein for tax and estate planning services between 2012 and 2017, ultimately leading Black to exit his role as the firm's CEO. The Dechert review found no evidence of wrongdoing. A separate financial settlement in 2023 saw Black pay $62.5 million to the U.S. Virgin Islands government, closing out exposure to claims stemming from that territory's inquiry into how Epstein's sex-trafficking network was financed, according to Reuters.
The session was part of a broader bipartisan inquiry into Epstein's network and federal authorities' handling of the case, an investigation that has drawn in figures ranging from former President Bill Clinton to Microsoft $MSFT co-founder Bill Gates. Black's session marked the 16th closed-door interview conducted by the panel, according to the outlet.
Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, wrote to the House Oversight panel ahead of Friday's hearing to flag findings from his own four-year investigation, noting that Black had "refused" to provide "a credible explanation as to why he paid Epstein amounts that vastly exceeded those paid to other professional advisors."