KUALA LUMPUR – Former Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd CEO Datuk Rohana Rozhan is back under the US legal glare as the defence is pushing to introduce as evidence an email between her and former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner.
Defence counsel Marc Agnifilo said the application for new evidence comes after Leissner’s testimony alleging his former colleague Roger Ng of having “critical relationships” that helped the deals linked to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) financial scandal.
The lawyer alleged that it was Leissner who had built these “critical relationships” and not his client Ng.
“Leissner was putting Roger in all of this when Leissner is the one who’s using connections. Sometimes he uses intimacy,” Agnifilo was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
He added that this is why Leissner’s cross-examination is heavily focused on his private life.
“Our premise is that all of the relationships he has, they’re all strategic. Tim Leissner was instrumental not just in his capacity as an efficient Goldman Sachs employee, but in having personal connections with people.”
The judge said she would consider whether to allow the evidence later today.
Rohana was implicated by Leissner when he revealed in his testimony last week that he had an affair with the former Astro CEO, alleging he bought her a US$10 million (RM41.85 million) home in London in 2013 after she had threatened to expose his involvement with 1MDB.
Rohana left Astro in 2019.
Leissner is the prosecution’s star witness in the criminal trial of Ng. 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 revelation resulted in Rohana giving her statement to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) days after.
In a brief statement from her lawyers at Valen, Oh, and Partners, Rohana said today: “I refer to the allegations appearing in the media about me.
“I’ve attended the office of MACC and given them my full cooperation in their investigations.”
Bloomberg had reported that the pair had a relationship between 2003 to 2013, when Leissner called it off so he could be with his then partner, Kimora Lee Simmons, who is a model and celebrity in the US. – The Vibes, March 4, 2022
