COSTS OF ASSOCIATING WITH EPSTEIN

 Billionaire private equity executive Leon Black has denied he was blackmailed by dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, insisting that transfers his firm made to the financier were legitimate business transactions.

“Let me be clear, there has never been an allegation by anyone that I engaged in any wrongdoing, because I did not,” Black said on an earnings call for his firm Apollo Global Management Inc., the New York Times reported. “Any suggestion of blackmail, or any other connection to Epstein’s reprehensible conduct, is categorically untrue.”

But the Times’ report, “The Billionaire Who Stood By Jeffrey Epstein,” showed Apollo clients had pushed Black for more details on his Epstein ties. It described their relationship as being, “deeper than Mr. Black let on: The two men often socialized and dined together, and Mr. Black was a lucrative client for Mr. Epstein over the final decade of his life.”