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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite tales on this weekly publication.
Tim Leissner, the disgraced former Goldman Sachs banker on the coronary heart of the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal, has been sentenced to 2 years in jail, in a coda to some of the notorious Wall Avenue prosecutions in historical past.
Leissner, who confronted as much as 25 years in jail, informed a New York federal decide that he stood earlier than her “in disgrace”, admitting that what he had finished was “very incorrect”. Wearing a darkish go well with, he grew emotional when he talked about certainly one of his daughters lately being rushed to an emergency backbone surgical procedure after a automotive accident. Not being by her aspect was an “insufferable torture”, he mentioned as he reached for tissues.
Leissner’s sentence marks a milestone in US regulation enforcement’s investigation into the 1MDB affair, by which Goldman bankers helped corrupt Malaysian officers misappropriate about $4.5bn from its sovereign wealth fund, in keeping with prosecutors. Leissner pleaded responsible early within the investigation and agreed to co-operate with prosecutors, testifying within the trial of certainly one of his former colleagues, Roger Ng.
Goldman admitted paying greater than $1bn in bribes to acquire underwriting work and paid almost $3bn in felony fines below a decision with the US Division of Justice, in a saga that spanned Malaysia, the Center East, Switzerland and the US, engulfing high-flying financiers and politicians alike. The case additionally led to the prosecution of Malaysia’s prime minister on the time, Najib Razak, who was convicted and in the end sentenced to 6 years in jail.
Ng was sentenced to 10 years in jail in 2023 after a New York jury discovered him responsible of bribery and cash laundering. Razak, who based 1MDB, is combating his jail sentence in Kuala Lumpur.
Leissner testified how he steered Goldman’s association of three 1MDB bond offers in 2012 and 2013, which raised about $6.5bn earlier than the ex-banker helped siphon greater than $2.7bn from the Malaysian fund.
He informed the courtroom that he spent his share of the stolen 1MDB proceeds, about $60mn, on a 170ft yacht and actual property in New York and London in addition to investments in Italian soccer workforce Inter Milan.
The financial institution’s basic counsel Kathryn Ruemmler wrote to the decide this month to say Leissner “extensively lied to and deceived many individuals” on the Wall Avenue group and “has nonetheless not repaid one penny” of a $20.7mn arbitration award {that a} courtroom in 2023 mentioned he owes Goldman.
