Ex-Goldman Banker Gets Two Years' Jail for Involvement in 1MDB Case

Former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner was sentenced to two years in prison by a judge in a New York court on May 29, after he pleaded guilty in 2018 to his involvement in a multibillion-dollar scandal involving Malaysia's sovereign fund, 1MDB.

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NEW YORK - Former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner was sentenced to two years in prison by a judge in a New York court on May 29, after he pleaded guilty in 2018 to his involvement in a multibillion-dollar scandal involving Malaysia's sovereign fund, 1MDB.

The Malaysian and US authorities estimated that US$4.5 billion (S$5.8 billion) was stolen from 1MDB in an elaborate scheme that spanned the globe and implicated high-level officials in the fund, former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, Goldman executives and others.

Leissner, a former South-east Asia chairman for Goldman, pleaded guilty in 2018 to a conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and participating in a money-laundering conspiracy, all tied to his role in the 1MDB scandal.

Leissner's conduct was "brazen and audacious," Judge Margo Brodie said during sentencing.

While his cooperation with the government was taken into account, it did not make up for the harm caused by the corruption at the highest levels in several countries, the judge said.