![]() ![]() Leissner testified on Thursday that he also stole tens of millions of dollars from his accomplices in the fraud. "Bribes had to be paid to make it happen," he said, "but we always kept it to the two of us." "As Roger and I walked, we agreed we would never say anything to anyone at Goldman Sachs or outside Goldman Sachs (about the payments) other than the participants that were there," Leissner testified. Leissner said that after the meeting he and Ng walked back to Leissner's hotel. "I wanted to make more money, even though I was well paid at Goldman Sachs." "I was of course happy that I was about to make some additional money," he told the jurors. "I can't say I was surprised," he added, saying years of working in emerging markets had taught him that bribes and kickbacks were sometimes associated with projects involving government officials.Īt the end of his presentation, Low said Leissner and Ng would also be "taken care of", Leissner testified. "In my mind, that meant both sides had to get US$100 million," Leissner testified. Low said that at the top levels, payments to the Malaysia and Abu Dhabi sides of the criminal enterprise "had to be the same and be perceived to be the same", Leissner testified. ![]() On one side of the page were several boxes for Malaysian officials who needed to be paid off, and on the other were boxes for the Abu Dhabi officials, he said. He said Low, who held no official position at 1MDB but exerted outsized influence there, was able to get that guarantee from the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi and its subsidiaries.Īt the meeting, Low took out a piece of paper and "started drawing boxes", Leissner told the court. ![]() court.The project could not move forward unless 1MDB secured an outside guarantor for the debt it was about to take on, he told the jury. Goldman in 2020 paid a nearly $3 billion fine and arranged for its Malaysian unit to plead guilty in U.S. prosecutors say $4.5 billion of the $6.5 billion Goldman raised for 1MDB and meant for the economic development of Malaysia was instead diverted to government officials, bankers and their associates through bribes and kickbacks. The charges stem from one of the biggest financial scandals in history, in which U.S. Leissner, who pleaded guilty to similar charges as Ng in 2018, testified last month that the investment involving the two men's wives was a "cover story" to explain the kickback payments so the banks that would process the transfer would not grow suspicious. "For investment in China there's no point for you to have documents," Lim said. Smith repeatedly asked Lim why, despite her training as a corporate lawyer, she did not press for documents or keep records. Attorney Alixandra Smith on Tuesday, Lim said she was no longer in possession of a two-page agreement she signed with Chan describing the deal and had no written updates on investment performance. Under cross-examination by Assistant U.S. Lim said she received around $35 million as a return on that investment in 20.īut prosecutors say that money represented kickbacks Leissner paid to Ng from the 1MDB scheme. Hwee Bin Lim, Ng's wife, testified on Monday that she made a $6 million investment in the mid-2000s in a Chinese company owned by the family of Judy Chan, Leissner's then-wife. Prosecutors say he helped his former boss Tim Leissner embezzle money from 1MDB development fund, launder the proceeds and bribe officials to win business for Goldman. Roger Ng, Goldman's former chief for Malaysia, is charged with conspiring to launder money and violate an anti-corruption law. ![]()
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