Ng, prosecutors argued, participated in setting up three 1MDB bond offerings through Goldman that generated more than $600m in fees for the bank. At trial, Ng called Leissner a “one-of-a-kind” liar. The case relied on the testimony of Tim Leissner, an ex-Goldman partner and its south-east Asia chairman, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder money and conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
#Goldman sachs tim leissner trial
Prosecutors at trial accused Ng of pocketing $35m in stolen 1MDB funds. “There’s no more deterrence I can think of than putting a Goldman Sachs director in a jail with a hole and contracting malaria and leprosy,” Ng’s attorney Marc Agnifilo said.īut US prosecutors, who had asked for a 15-year sentence, argued that the $35m Ng received in the scheme had not, to their certainty, been recovered.Īfter passing sentence, Brodie said that a 120-month sentence was “sufficient” to “reflect the seriousness of the crimes” that involved “complex financial deals that raised $6bn, paid $1.6bn in bribes, $1bn in kickbacks – money that was meant to benefit the people of Malaysia.”Īfter Ng was convicted, Breon Peace, the US attorney for the eastern district of New York, said the justice department was “committed to addressing corporate culture by vigorously combating white-collar crime and holding corrupt individuals who seek to enrich themselves accountable for violating US laws here and abroad”. They argued that Ng had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after being held in Malaysian jail where he contracted rat- and mosquito-borne diseases. In a lengthy sentencing hearing defense attorneys requested that Judge Margo Brodie release Ng on time served. The bank agreed to pay $2.9bn to settle a US-led investigation into its role in 2020. Ng is the only Goldman banker to have been tried and convicted in the scandal. The spoils even helped finance Hollywood movies, including the 2013 Leonardo DiCaprio film “The Wolf of Wall Street.A jury in Brooklyn, New York, found Ng, 50, from Malaysia, guilty of violating US anti-bribery laws, money laundering and illegally skirting Goldman’s accounting controls, after a seven-week trial. The embezzlement bankrolled lavish spending on jewels, art, a superyacht and luxury real estate. The 49-year-old has pleaded not guilty to three counts, including conspiring to launder money and violating an anti-bribery law. They say he also deleted personal email accounts to cover his tracks.Ī former head of investment banking in Malaysia, Ng is the only Goldman banker to stand trial in the 1MDB scandal. prosecutors scapegoated Ng for “corporate-wide” failures at Goldman that enabled the colossal fraud orchestrated by superiors like Leissner.įederal prosecutors allege Ng pocketed $35 million in secret kickbacks and conspired to launder pilfered funds through the U.S.
Ng’s defense attorneys have described the looting of $4.5 billion from the 1MDB state investment fund as “perhaps the single largest heist in the history of the world.” But they contend U.S. He was ordered to forfeit $43.7 million as part of his guilty plea and agreed to testify against Ng. Leissner, 52, pleaded guilty in 2018 to paying millions of dollars in bribes to government officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi. The trial will be on a break until Tuesday, when Leissner is expected to resume his testimony.
Ng, he added, was “particularly glad he was going to be paid some money” because he felt the firm had undercompensated him over the years. Leissner said he knew that would be illegal, but didn’t care because if the deal went through he would be “a hero” at Goldman Sachs. He also described a dinner in London around 2012 where Low informed he and Eg they would be receiving kickbacks. Whenever asked about Low, Leissner said, “I lied outright and said no, he was not involved.” Leissner said Low had “decision-making authority” for the 1MDB state investment fund in a bond transaction considered “the biggest in Goldman Sachs history” - another aspect of the business dealings he had to hide because of Low’s questionable reputation. … The house of cards would have fallen down,” he said. “If we told any bank the truth, it wouldn’t work. Leissner testified that he, Ng and Low Taek Jho - the Malaysian financier and fugitive socialite known as Jho Low - used off-shore accounts and shell companies to “disguise the flow of funds.” The money laundering efforts also involved drawing up fake contracts with banks, he said.
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