The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. was a U.S.-based global investment banking, securities, and investment management firm whose common stock was registered with the SEC and traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
Tim Leissner was employed by Goldman Sachs between April 1998 and March 2016. Prior to his separation from Goldman Sachs, Leissner was a Participating Managing Director, Vice Chairman of the Investment Banking Division for Asia Ex-Japan, and Chairman of South East Asia.
According to the documents in this case, between 2012 and 2014, Leissner and other Goldman Sachs senior executives authorized and paid bribes and kickbacks to government officials in Malaysia and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in order to secure business for Goldman Sachs from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (“1MDB”), a Malaysian state-owned and controlled investment fund created to pursue projects for the economic benefit of Malaysia. Through these bribes and kickbacks, Goldman Sachs was awarded the underwriting of three bond offerings to be issued by 1MDB. As 1MDB raised the approximately $6.5 billion in capital in 2012 and 2013 for the bond offerings, as much as $2.7 billion was diverted from 1MDB for the bribes and kickbacks. The diverted funds included a substantial portion of the approximately $6.5 billion in capital that 1MDB raised in 2012 and 2013 through three bond offerings that it executed with Goldman Sachs (the “bond deals”). In all, Goldman Sachs earned approximately $600 million on the three bond offerings.
In a settled administrative proceeding initiated on December 16, 2019, the SEC ordered Leissner to cease and desist violations of the anti-bribery, books and records, and internal controls provisions of the FCPA. Additionally, under the terms of the settlement, the SEC permanently barred Leissner from the securities industry and ordered him to disgorge $43.7 million, which would be offset by the same amount he was ordered to forfeit in the parallel DOJ action noted below.
In a related proceeding, on June 7, 2018, the DOJ filed a complaint in the Eastern District of New York against Leissner alleging conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery and internal controls provisions of the FCPA as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering. On August 28, 2018, the DOJ filed a two count Information alleging the same violations. On the same date, Leissner agreed to plead guilty to the charges in the Information. At the time of entry into the database, the plea agreement was not available, so its terms are not known. However, the DOJ press release announcing the plea stated that Leissner has been ordered to forfeit $43.7 million. Leissner is scheduled to be sentenced on Mach 19, 2024.
In a related proceeding, on October 3, 2018, the DOJ filed a three count indictment in the Eastern District of New York against Low Taek Jho, a Malaysian national who maintained relationships with several Malaysian government and 1MDB officials, and Ng Chong Hwa, a former Managing Director at several Goldman Sachs subsidiaries, alleging conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery and internal controls provisions of the FCPA as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering. On December 9, 2020, the DOJ filed a superseding indictment against Low and Ng alleging the same counts as the initial indictment. On December 20, 2021, the DOJ filed a second superseding indictment against Low and Ng alleging the same claims. Jury selection for Ng's trial began on Febrary 7, 2022, and after several weeks of trial, the jury found Ng guilty on all three counts on April 8, 2022. On March 9, 2023, the court sentenced Ng to ten years in prison to be followed by two years of supervied release. The court further ordered Ng to forfeit $35,100,000 and to pay a mandatory assessment of $300. On April 5, 2023, Ng notified the court that he was appealing the judgment. This case against Low is ongoing.
