Ex-Goldman banker Leissner jailed for two years, apologises to Malaysians

The Star

Former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner apologised to Malaysians for his involvement in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.  “First and foremost, I offer my sincere apology to the people of Malaysia," said Leissner in the US court hearing on his sentencing on May 29.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/2j6vrjhx  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00Former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leisner has apologized to Malaysians for his involvement

00:06in the $1 million bribery scandal. The 55-year-old said in the New York court hearing on his

00:12sentencing on Thursday that he regretted his actions. He was sentenced to two years in jail

00:18by the judge for playing a key role in laundering money and giving bribes to officials in the

00:23scandal. Judge Margot Brody described Leisner's conduct as brazen and audacious, saying that

00:31while his cooperation with the government was taken into account, it did not make up for the

00:35harm caused by the corruption at the highest levels in several countries. Leisner became a U.S.

00:41government witness after his arrest and pleading guilty to the charges in 2018, and he agreed to

00:47help the government in the investigation and testified against his former colleague Roger

00:52Ng. In 2023, the court convicted Ng of helping Leisner to steal money from 1MDB and conspiring

01:01to launder the money. Ng was sentenced to 10 years in jail, but was sent back to Malaysia

01:06to help with probes here. He appeared as a defense witness in former Prime Minister Datuk

01:11Srinajib Razak's 1MDB corruption case. The U.S. court heard that Goldman Sachs had helped

01:18sell 6.5 billion U.S. dollars of bonds for 1MDB, and some of the funds were diverted to offshore bank

01:26accounts and shell companies linked to Malaysian fugitive financier Joe Lowe. Leisner's lawyers

01:33said they respect the court's decision, and Leisner is prepared to serve his sentence and carry on with

01:38his life of good works and care for his family. Malaysian and U.S. authorities estimated 4.5 billion U.S.

01:46dollars was stolen from 1MDB.

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