KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is still working to recover US$10 million (RM44.45 million) in assets linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) funds held by former Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd CEO Datuk Rohana Rozhan.
Utusan Malaysia reports an MACC source saying she has yet to return the assets, and that the anti-graft agency had begun detailing an investigation paper.
The assets came to light in the testimony of former Goldman Sachs Group Inc bank official Tim Leissner earlier this year that he had given US$10 million to Rohana for her “silence” after she had threatened to expose his involvement with 1MDB.
Leissner, who was testifying in the US trial of former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng, said that this was in the form of a US$10 million home in Montpelier Street, London in 2013. He and Rohana had a romantic relationship from 2003 to 2013.
In February, MACC froze Rohana’s bank account and assets. The agency also took her statement.
In April, it was reported that Rohana would return the US$10 million to Malaysian authorities.
Rohana is being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Act (AMLA) 2001.
Leissner pleaded guilty to violating US anti-corruption laws and money laundering in 2018. He also was charged with selling 1MDB-related bonds worth about US$6.5 billion that were managed with the help of Goldman Sachs in 2012 and 2013.
Prosecutors said US$4.5 billion of that was embezzled by officials, bankers, and their associates in one of the biggest scandals in Wall Street history.
In 2022, Goldman Sachs paid a US$3 billion fine, and its Malaysian unit pleaded guilty in US court. – The Vibes, August 11, 2022
