Malaysia’s Commodities Minister Johari Abdul Ghani has called a two-year prison sentence for a former Goldman Sachs banker implicated in the multibillion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption scandal too lenient.
On Thursday, New York judge Margo Brodie sentenced German-born banker Tim Leissner, a former chairman for Goldman Sachs in Southeast Asia, to two years in prison for his role in the scandal.
Leissner, who previously pleaded guilty to US bribery and money laundering counts, faced a maximum sentence of 25 years.
During sentencing, Brodie described Leissner’s conduct as “brazen and audacious”. Visibly emotional as he read out a statement in court, Leissner offered a “sincere apology to the people of Malaysia” and said he “deeply regret[s]” his actions.
Ghani, chairman of the 1MDB asset recovery taskforce, said on Friday that Leissner should have been given the maximum jail sentence as he was “one of the masterminds” of the scheme, which saw billions of dollars in public money siphoned off Malaysia’s investment fund.
The 1MDB fund was created as a vehicle to attract foreign investment for energy and infrastructure projects in Malaysia, but was pilfered by officials and bankers.
Malaysian and US authorities estimate that around $4.5bn was stolen in total, in an elaborate scheme that spanned the globe and implicated high-level officials, including former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was jailed in 2022.
In 2018, Leissner pleaded guilty to bribery and money laundering counts in relation to his role in the scandal, including paying roughly $2bn in bribes to foreign officials and splitting another $1bn in kickbacks with others in the scheme.
A US Department of Justice spokesperson said he will begin serving a 24-month sentence in September.
US prosecutors had called for leniency due to the “extraordinary” assistance he had provided the probe. Leissner served as the star witness in the 2022 trial of his former colleague and Goldman Sachs Managing Director Roger Ng.
Judge Brodie sentenced Malaysian national Ng to 10 years’ imprisonment in March 2023 for, among other crimes, “conspiring to launder billions of dollars embezzled” from 1MDB and paying more than $1.6bn in bribes.
Leissner also provided details regarding the involvement of Low Taek Jho, the Malaysian financier known as “Jho Low”, who stands accused of stealing billions from the fund but remains at large.
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