(Newswire.net — April 23, 2022) — After an eight-week federal trial, former Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. banker Roger Ng was found guilty in the 1MDB scandal. The case featured corruption, money laundering, and bribery, and was characterized in the press as one of the “world’s greatest financial scandals.”
The legal and financial communities have been keeping a close eye on the developments of this case. Frequent discussions have centered on the prosecution’s key witness, Tim Leissner, an associate of Ng and the government’s chief witness. Another alleged player in the schemes was Malaysian financier, Jho Low, who remains at large.
White-collar criminal lawyer Kevin O’Brien acknowledges the importance of Tim Leissner’s testimony in Ng’s eventual conviction.
“The defense had plenty of ammunition to make Tim Leissner the real bad guy here,” O’Brien said, “but it was always an uphill battle, given the documents that supported his accomplice testimony.”
Those documents contained allegations of conspiracies, shell companies, wives laundering money, and extravagant lifestyles funded with stolen money.
When questioned whether or not he was good at lying, Leissner offered up a simple response: “I lied a lot.”
Draining the Fund
The 1MDB fund was raised for the purpose of supporting the economic development of Malaysia. It was a partnership between Goldman Sachs bankers in Malaysia and the United States. About $6.5 billion had been raised for the fund by Goldman Sachs through bond sales. Of that total, $4.5 billion was embezzled from the fund, much of it for bribes and kickbacks.
Since the discovery of the diversion, the issue has been that of where to cast the blame among the parties involved. Leissner, though essentially Ng’s supervisor at the time of the embezzlement and money laundering activities, claimed during the trial that Ng’s role in the scheme was instrumental. The evidence seemingly supported Leissner’s assertions.
“Leissner, despite his warts (or perhaps because of them), was a formidable witness,” says O’Brien. “Leissner worked closely with Ng and also agreed to forfeit $43.7 million to the government for his confessed crimes, so his testimony was highly credible.” Given Leissner’s testimony and the disappearance of Jho Low, Ng may end up taking the brunt of the punishment for the entire scheme.
“Leissner will almost certainly obtain a lenient sentence for his cooperation. Whether he avoids prison entirely is an open question. Stranger things have happened,” says O’Brien.
Prosecuting Roger Ng
Since Jho Low, one of the most important alleged offenders of the looting scheme, has proven elusive, the courts may take an opportunity to make an example of the now-convicted Ng. O’Brien reasons that an appeal on behalf of Ng doesn’t look promising, despite Ng’s defense attorney Marc Agnifilo’s vow to fight the guilty conviction.
“The conviction rested on the jury buying Leissner’s testimony and perhaps also rejecting the testimony of Ng’s wife, who tried to corroborate his defense,” explains O’Brien. “These credibility decisions are uniquely the province of a jury, and an appellate court will be reluctant to disturb them absent some glaring error or abuse at trial.”
A very large amount of money changed hands throughout the scheme.
“Money was used to grease the palms of Malaysian officials,” said O’Brien. “The principal beneficiary, however, may have been Goldman itself, which underwrote three bond offerings for 1MDB worth more than $6 billion, reaping around $600 million in fees.”
The decisions made by Leissner, Ng, and Low had negative and unfortunate consequences for the people of Malaysia, who had stood to benefit from the 1MDB fund. Goldman Sachs pleaded guilty to its role in the scheme and paid $2.9 billion in fines. What Ng’s punishment will remain to be seen.