Former Goldman Sachs banker gets two-year jail sentence over 1MDB scandal
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The news: Former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner was sentenced to two years in prison for his role in the looting of billions of dollars from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, one of the biggest financial crimes in history.
Leissner, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to conspiring with Jho Low and Roger Ng to bribe foreign officials and secure bond deals, cooperated with US prosecutors, testifying against Ng and helping trace stolen money.
According to financial media reports, US District Judge Margo Brodie in Brooklyn said Leissner’s actions were “brazen and audacious” and caused “harm and devastation” that his cooperation could not fully repair.
The numbers: The sentence, handed down in New York federal court, is far more lenient than the potential 25 years he faced. Leissner’s prison term begins on 15 September.
He admitted Goldman earned USD600 million ($930.1 million) in revenue and fees from 1MDB bonds and he personally pocketed USD73.4 million in kickbacks.
The context: The 1MDB scandal spanned multiple countries, was a black eye for Goldman Sachs, engulfed several high-flying financiers and politicians and triggered investigations by US, Malaysian and other authorities around the world.
Goldman admitted it had paid over USD1 billion in bribes to secure work underwriting bond deals, and paid over USD5 billion in penalties, calling the scandal an “institutional failure.”
The sources: Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg
