As highlighted in this prior post, in November 2018 the DOJ announced a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and related enforcement action against Tim Leissner (the former Southeast Asia Chairman at Goldman Sachs) and others associated with Goldman Sachs for paying bribes to various Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials in connection with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Malaysia’s state-owned and state-controlled investment development company. Leissner pleaded guilty and was ordered to forfeit $43.7 million as a result of his crimes.
As highlighted in this prior post, in April 2022 co-defendant Roger Ng (a former managing director at Goldman Sachs) was found guilty at trial of FCPA and related charges. Leissner testified at the trial. In 2023, Ng was to 1o years prison by Judge Margo Brodie (E.D.N.Y.) (See here for the prior post).
This prior post highlighted sentencing memos in the Leissner matter.
In the words of the DOJ:
“Leissner agreed to cooperate against those responsible for one of the largest financial crimes in history. It was a globe-spanning scheme that involved the diversion of billions of dollars that were supposed to benefit the people of Malaysia; brazen corruption at the highest levels of government in multiple countries; and the use of the world’s most successful investment bank to advance these crimes. Leissner’s years’ long cooperation with the government’s investigation of the sprawling fraud related to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (“1MDB”) was extraordinary. Long before his trial testimony publicly described the scheme and his central role in it, Leissner’s cooperation gave the government a vast array of evidence that only someone in Leissner’s position could. Throughout, Leissner was clear about his significant criminal conduct, the greed that fueled it, and the tremendous harm it caused.
For nearly seven years, Leissner has continued to cooperate. As is required of all cooperating witnesses, Leissner never shrunk from his responsibility of total candor—he spoke openly about his crimes, his past, and his personal life and continued to do so as both the 1MDB criminal scheme and his personal life took center stage in court and in public.”
Yesterday, nearly seven years after pleading guilty, Leissner was sentenced to 2 years in prison by Judge Brodie.
The vast difference in sentences imposed on Leissner and Ng once again demonstrate the very real risk of a criminal defendant “testing their innocence.” (See here).
