In 2018, the DOJ announced that Low Taek Jho (Jho Low – pictured), Ng Chong Hwa (Roger Ng – a former managing director at Goldman Sachs), and Tim Leissner (the former Southeast Asia Chairman at Goldman Sachs and Participating Manager Director) were charged with FCPA offenses for paying bribes to various Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials in connection with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Malaysia’s state-owned and state-controlled investment development company. The individuals were also charged with conspiring to launder billions of dollars embezzled from 1MDB.
In 2020, based upon the same core conduct, Goldman Sachs resolved a net $1.66 billion FCPA enforcement action – the largest ever FCPA settlement.
Leissner pleaded guilty, was ordered to forfeit $43.7 million, and in 2025 was sentenced to prison for two years. (See here for the prior post).
In 2022, Ng was found guilty at trial of FCPA and related charges and in 2023 was sentenced to ten years in prison. (See here for the prior post).
Jho Low remains a fugitive and there has not been any entry on the court docket for the case in approximately three years.
However, according to the DOJ Office of the Pardon Attorney website, this year Low petitioned for a pardon. Below is the entry on the DOJ’s website.
For additional reading, see here from the Wall Street Journal.
