A former Goldman Sachs executive who is testifying in an embezzlement scandal he was involved in has admitted on Wednesday, Feb. 23, that he bought his girlfriend a $10-million mansion in an attempt to keep his mistress quiet on their misdeeds.
Tim Leissner, a Goldman Sachs executive who was involved in the 1MDB scandal in Malaysia, enumerated his extramarital affairs while testifying against former Goldman Sach banker Roger Ng, confirming a claim that he used $10 million to buy his girlfriend Rohana Rozhan a mansion, the New York Post reported.
Rozhan was a media executive and ex-CEO of Astro Malaysia Holdings. Leissner reportedly laundered $10 million from the 1MDB development fund to buy Rozhan a mansion so that she would keep quiet about their affair together.
“If I didn’t buy her a house, she would tell the authorities about my involvement in the 1MDB scandal. She was threatening to expose me. At the time, 2013, I was very fearful of that,” Leissner said.
Leissner’s relationship with Rozhan was an open secret for the company, with the chief of Goldman Sachs Asia Richard Gnodde allegedly warning him about getting into a relationship with a client of the organization.
As Ng faces trial for his part in the 1MDB corruption scandal, Ng’s lawyers have attempted to paint Leissner as an unreliable witness, claiming that Leissner is a “double bigamist” who got married to two women at the same time twice.
Leissner and Ng, with Malaysian financier Jho Low, diverted over $4.5 billion in development funds for their personal use, with over $1.6 billion in bribes paid by the bankers to ensure that business between the two organizations continues, according to another New York Post article.
Ng has pleaded not guilty to the charges of money laundering and bribery, while Low is still at large and has reportedly been granted asylum by an unnamed country.
Goldman Sachs themselves have agreed to pay over $3 billion for their connection to the scandal, which they have been able to pay back in June 2021.
Meanwhile, Leissner pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He has agreed to forfeit $43.7 million of his fortune to pay for the victims of the crime and will be sentenced later this year regarding his charges.
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