A former Goldman Sachs banker who was a target of the multibillion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption scandal received a two-year prison sentence, according to Malaysia’s commodities minister Johari Abdul Ghani, as too lenient.
Tim Leissner, a former Goldman Sachs chairman in Southeast Asia, was sentenced by New York judge Margo Brodie on Thursday to two years in prison for his role in the scandal.
Leissner, who previously admitted guilt to charges of bribery and money laundering in the United States, could receive a maximum sentence of 25 years.
Brodie called Leissner’s behavior “brazen and audacious” at the sentencing hearing. Leissner apologized to the Malaysian people in a “sincere apology” and expressed regret for his actions in court, which he read out.
Leissner should have received the maximum jail sentence, according to Ghani, the 1MDB asset recovery taskforce chairman, who claimed on Friday that he was “one of the masterminds” of the scheme, which saw the theft of billions of dollars from Malaysia’s investment fund.
Although the 1MDB fund was intended to entice foreign investment in Malaysian infrastructure and energy projects, it was stolen by officials and bankers.
According to Malaysian and US authorities, a grand theft total of $4.5 billion was carried out in an elaborate scheme that involved high-level officials from the government, including former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was imprisoned in 2022, among others.
Leissner admitted guilt in relation to his role in the scandal in 2018, including paying foreign officials roughly $2 billion in bribes and splitting another $1 billion in kickbacks with others in the scheme.
He will begin receiving a 24-month sentence in September, according to a representative from the US Department of Justice.
Due to his “extraordinary” assistance in conducting the investigation, US prosecutors had requested leniency. Roger Ng, a former colleague and Goldman Sachs Managing Director, was the star witness in the 2022 trial of Lessner.
In March 2023, Judge Brodie sentenced Malaysian national Ng to 10 years in prison for, among other crimes, “spewing billions of dollars embezzled” from 1MDB and paying more than $1.6 billion in bribes.
Source: Aljazeera
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