Ex-NYC prosecutor who investigated Leon Black sex allegations hired by firm representing him against rape accuser

A Manhattan prosecutor who investigated billionaire Leon Black has been hired by the law firm representing him against his rape accuser.

Joan Illuzzi-Orbon’s new job at high-end boutique law firm Perry Guha enraged lawyers for Guzel Ganieva, who is suing Black in Manhattan Supreme Court for sexual assault and defamation.

Ganieva’s lawyers say Illuzzi-Orbon, who left the Manhattan district attorney’s office in January, led an investigation into potential criminal charges against the former CEO of Apollo Global Management based on confidential information provided by her and another anonymous accuser.

Her attorney Jeanne Christensen asked a judge to force the firm to withdraw from the case.

“No victim will feel safe disclosing their confidential information to government lawyers if they know that their confidences can be used to help defend the same man that they allege sexually harmed them,” said Christensen.

A spokesman for Perry Guha described the characterization as “reprehensible” and said Illuzzi-Orbon immediately recused herself from the case upon learning of it.

Illuzzi-Orbon, a 33-year DA office veteran, who prosecuted Harvey Weinstein in 2020, defended her ethics. She declined to comment on probing Black.

“Not only have I spent three decades of my life fighting for victims and survivors, but I have done nothing that isn’t 100% proper,” she told the Daily News, saying she plans to continue her advocacy in civil practice.

“I am working for the best people I know, and I am very proud of it,” Illuzzi-Orbon added. “There’s nothing here.”

Ganieva’s June 2021 lawsuit accuses Black, worth an estimated $9.3 billion, of subjecting her to non-consensual “sadistic sexual acts that were physically painful” throughout a seven-year relationship built on coercive manipulation that started in 2008.

Black, who has not been criminally accused of wrongdoing, has described his relationship with Ganieva as a consensual extra-marital affair and claims she’s trying to extort him as part of a conspiracy.

She also claims Black once tried without success to make her sleep with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Black, who retired in 2021 as questions swirled about his friendship with Epstein, is appealing a judge’s decision to toss his countersuit against Ganieva. The suit accused the Russian model of colluding with his business rivals to extort him.

A representative for the powerful investment manager said he had not heard from the DA’s office in 18 months and claimed prosecutors are probing his extortion claims against Ganieva.

The Manhattan DA’s office, which has a been called out for going easy on high-profile men accused of sexual assault, would not comment or confirm whether it’s investigating Black or Ganieva. Spokeswoman Emily Tuttle said the office takes its confidentiality mandate “extremely seriously,” and victims should view it as a “safe place to report crime.”