PETALING JAYA: The US Federal Reserve has banned former Goldman Sachs bankers Tim Leissner and Roger Ng from the finance industry for their roles in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.
The investment bank arranged three bond sales in 2012 and 2013 helped 1MDB raise US$6.5 billion (RM27 billion) and pocked a US$600 million fee, a Bloomberg report said.
Leissner and Ng coordinated the bond offerings in “a scheme that illegally diverted billions of dollars from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund”, according to the Fed.
Last November, Tim Leissner, who once headed Goldman Sachs’ Southeast Asian unit, pleaded guilty to violating US anti-bribery and money-laundering laws and agreed to pay US$43.7 million in restitution of ill-gotten gains. He faces a lifetime ban from the banking industry.
Ng, who was Leissner’s deputy, is to be extradited to the US to face charges, according to reports last month.
Goldman Sachs has denied any wrongdoing and claims it was misled by Leissner and senior officials in the Malaysian government about the role of a key intermediary in the scandal, Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low.
