KUALA LUMPUR – Briberies of at least US$100 million to top officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi are what it took to grease the wheels in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) financial scandal, said star witness and disgraced Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner in his third day of testimony.
Prior to this, he had testified he was told that United Arab Emirates’ Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan “wouldn’t get out of bed for less than US$100 million” as well as former Malaysian prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak getting his share of kickbacks.
In his testimony against former colleague Roger Ng, Leissner now puts the blame on fugitive Low Taek Jho, popularly known as Jho Low, saying the Penang-born businessman was the mastermind of the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scam.
He alleged that Low spelled out who needed to be paid off for approval to raise and spend 1MDB’s billions, reported Bloomberg.
One meeting, Leissner said, took place in 2012 in Low’s Mayfair home where the Malaysian took out a piece of paper and “started drawing boxes” – listing who needed to be bribed in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi.
During this time, Goldman had just signed on to raise US$1.75 billion for the sovereign fund but found roadblocks as 1MDB had to secure an outside guarantor.
Leissner testified that Low said payments to Malaysia and Abu Dhabi’s top levels “had to be the same and be perceived to be the same”.
“In my mind, that meant both sides had to get US$100 million. I can’t say I was surprised.”
He added that he learnt during his time working in emerging markets that bribes and kickbacks were common with projects involving government officials.
In the end, Leissner was hooked when Low allegedly told him that the two bankers would be “taken care of”.
“I was of course happy that I was about to make some additional money. I wanted to make more money, even though I was well paid at Goldman Sachs.”
After meeting with Low, Leissner said he and Ng agreed to keep the bribes a secret from Goldman Sachs colleagues.
“As Roger and I walked, we agreed we would never say anything to anyone at Goldman Sachs or outside Goldman Sachs, other than the participants that were there.
“Bribes had to be paid to make it happen but we always kept it to the two of us.”
Low did not have an official position at 1MDB. It was reported that Sheikh Mansour is not accused of any wrongdoing by prosecutors.
Leissner then admitted that after the first bond sale in 2012, he got US$35 million from Low, and shared it with Ng but needed a “cover story” so as to not raise alarms.
He had also refuted the money that was transferred from his then wife Judy Chan to Ng’s wife for a separate business transaction.
Ng’s defence, however, said the two wives had a legitimate business together. It is expected that Ng’s wife Lim Hwee Bin will be testifying for the defence.
So far, Goldman Sach in 2020 paid nearly US$3 billion in fines and its Malaysian unit pleaded guilty in US court.
Low in 2018 was charged in US and Malaysia but remains a fugitive.
After Leissner’s testimony is completed, US district judge Margo Brodie will postpone the trial to allow the defence to review more than 15,000 documents that the prosecution failed to provide earlier.
Ng’s lawyer Marc Agnifilo was reported as saying that some of the evidence he has reviewed so far could be used against allegations Leissner made.
He also told the judge that he may apply for a mistrial, slamming the prosecutors’ “slow-walking” evidence over at least two and a half years.
On Tuesday, Leissner created a stir when he testified to having an affair with former Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd CEO Datuk Rohana Rozhan and gifting her a US$10 million (RM41.85 million) home.
He alleged that he bought her the home in London in 2013 after she had threatened to expose his involvement with 1MDB and that the relationship was from 2003 to 2013.
Rohana left Astro in 2019 but was in charge when the media company undertook several business deals with Goldman, according to Leissner.
Last night, the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) reportedly interviewed Rohana and sources told Utusan Malaysia that an investigation will be made to determine her alleged involvement.
“Rohana’s statement was taken by MACC around 9am this morning at MACC Putrajaya,” the source was quoted as saying in the report.
It was also revealed that money-laundering investigations are being conducted under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
Leissner also pleaded guilty in 2018 to a count of conspiracy to violate US anti-bribery laws and to conspiring to launder money.
Ng is the only former Goldman banker to go on trial for his involvement in the 1MDB scandal. – The Vibes, February 20, 2022
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