As highlighted in this prior post, in November 2018 the DOJ announced a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and related enforcement action against Tim Leissner (the former Southeast Asia Chairman at Goldman Sachs) and others associated with Goldman Sachs 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. Leissner pleaded guilty and was ordered to forfeit $43.7 million as a result of his crimes.
As highlighted in this prior post, in April 2022 Roger Ng (a former managing director at Goldman Sachs) was found guilty at trial of FCPA and related charges. Leissner testified at the trial.
Leissner has not yet been sentenced.
However, he is scheduled to be sentenced on May 29th by Judge Margo Brodie (E.D.N.Y.) and recently sentencing memos were filed by the DOJ and Leissner.
The DOJ sentencing letter states in summary fashion:
“The government respectfully submits this letter, pursuant to Section 5K1.1 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines (“U.S.S.G.” or the “Guidelines”), to apprise the Court of the substantial assistance provided by the defendant Tim Leissner and permit the Court, in its discretion, to impose a sentence below the otherwise applicable advisory Guidelines range. […]
Leissner agreed to cooperate against those responsible for one of the largest financial crimes in history. It was a globe-spanning scheme that involved the diversion of billions of dollars that were supposed to benefit the people of Malaysia; brazen corruption at the highest levels of government in multiple countries; and the use of the world’s most successful investment bank to advance these crimes. Leissner’s years’ long cooperation with the government’s investigation of the sprawling fraud related to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (“1MDB”) was extraordinary. Long before his trial testimony publicly described the scheme and his central role in it, Leissner’s cooperation gave the government a vast array of evidence that only someone in Leissner’s position could. Throughout, Leissner was clear about his significant criminal conduct, the greed that fueled it, and the tremendous harm it caused.
For nearly seven years, Leissner has continued to cooperate. As is required of all cooperating witnesses, Leissner never shrunk from his responsibility of total candor—he spoke openly about his crimes, his past, and his personal life and continued to do so as both the 1MDB criminal scheme and his personal life took center stage in court and in public.
Given Leissner’s extensive and extraordinary cooperation, and assuming he fully complies with the terms of his cooperation agreement ahead of sentencing, the government will move, at sentencing, under Section 5K1.1.”
Leissner’s sentencing memo states in summary fashion:
“For the last seven years Mr. Leissner has cooperated with the government. Since his arrest in June 2018, he has consistently and frequently provided the government with information, details, and documents about the 1MDB bribery scheme. He proffered for perhaps hundreds of hours. While Mr. Leissner only testified in a single jury trial, United States v. Roger Ng, the information he provided touched scores of rich and powerful individuals: sheiks from Abu Dhabi with immense wealth and state power, the former prime minister of Malaysia—who to this day remains a popular politician in his home country, and Goldman Sachs, the richest investment bank in the world.
[redacted]
And so is his crime. Even after the case before this Court is long closed, Mr. Leissner’s crime will follow him—likely forever. Indeed, just this week, public reporting confirmed that Mr. Leissner is likely to face yet more consequences for his crime. The Malaysian government is seeking Mr. Leissner’s extradition to face charges there for these same 1MDB-related crimes: “Malaysia’s government submitted an extradition request for Leissner to the U.S. Justice Department last August,” and “[a]n Interpol red notice, making him subject to arrest almost anywhere in the world, was issued for Leissner in November.” […].
Even after seven years of continuous cooperation, and seven years of separation from much of his family, Mr. Leissner has no real prospect for putting the consequences of his crime behind him. That reality renders additional punishment from this Court unnecessary for Mr. Leissner. A time served sentence is sufficient but not greater than necessary for Tim Leissner.”
