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Bangkok It was in the spring of 2012. Tim Leissner was close to the peak of his career: In one of Singapore's best Chinese restaurants, the German finance director received several Swiss bankers. At that time, Leissner was a star of the financial center of Southeast Asia, partner of Goldman Sachs and well connected between the rich and the powerful.
Leissner 's business lunches regularly involved a lot of money. But the conversation with the Swiss about the billion dollar Leissner case, according to the Bloomberg agency presented at the Milkmouth, interests investigators today. Leissner and Swiss bankers are now among the main characters of a $ 1 billion corporate crime, which could prove to be one of the biggest cases of fraud. in Asia of all time.
This is the Malaysian sovereign fund 1MDB, of which four thousand five hundred billion dollars were diverted from the point of view of US investigators under the authority of the then head of government, Najib Razak. After the surprising electoral victory of the opposition, a new government has been in place in Malaysia since May. Since then, the investigation into the financial scandal has gained momentum and question: what does Tim Leissner and his employer Goldman Sachs know?
Leissner, became the head of Goldman's Southeast Asia through his lucrative dealings with 1MDB in 2014 a media report now a guilty admission. As the Wall Street Journal points out, the former manager, who has not been indicted, is in negotiations with US law enforcement.
Leissner may have violated an anti-corruption law
Therefore, he could reach an agreement under which Leissner pleads guilty and cooperates with the investigators. There is apparently a charge in the room for breaking an anti-corruption law. His lawyer did not respond to a request from Handelsblatt's report.
If Leissner, born in 1971 and graduated from Siegen University, works with investigators, he could also help explain the role of Goldman Sachs in the scandal. The investment bank supported 1MDB under the direction of Leissner by issuing bonds worth $ 6.5 billion.
The money should be officially used to finance the investments of the sovereign fund. But in fact, in 2012, just after the first two series of emissions, nearly $ 1.4 billion in revenue was diverted from revenue. An account at Swiss bank BSI, whose directors Leissner would have met at the Chinese restaurant in Singapore shortly before.
Before the 1MDB scandal, Leissner was considered the star of the banking industry.
[Photo: Getty Images]
Goldman Sachs made a lot of money on dubious deals with 1MDB: the investment bank received nearly $ 600 million. Critics have long suspected the amount of fees Goldman could charge. The company denies any wrongdoing and ensures that its revenues are proportionate to the risks incurred in the execution of transactions.
Goldman Sachs cooperates with investigators
According to the Wall Street Journal, the New York Attorney's Office is investigating whether Goldman has violated the laws. In a statement, the bank is committed to cooperating fully with the investigators and dismissed Tim Leissner, who has not worked for Goldman since 2016: "Since we suspended Mr. Leissner, we have found that he deliberately concealed certain activities. This information was made available to the investigators.
The new Malaysian government under Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad set itself the goal of quickly resolving the scandal under the previous government. She wants to try to recover hijacked funds and also demands a refund of Goldman Sachs' fees. Former Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was cracking down on the investigation of the case during his tenure, was indicted last week in connection with the scandal.
Investigators in Malaysia receive support from the Swiss Federal Attorney's Office. Lawyer Michael Lauber came on Tuesday to a working meeting at the Malay Putrajaya administrative headquarters to discuss cooperation with his counterparts.
He confirmed that in Switzerland against six people in connection with the case will be determined. Lauber pointed out, however, that former Prime Minister Najib is not one of the suspects. In addition, he confirmed the investigations into the role of Swiss banks BSI and Falcon in the case
Banks in the United States
The two banks had to close their branches in Singapore as early as 2016 on the orders of the authorities . The Swiss Financial Supervisory Authority (BSI), which is now part of the private banking group EFG International, withdrew 95 million francs for violating anti-money laundering regulations. Investigations have also been launched against Bank Falcon, which holds investors from Abu Dhabi. The two companies did not wish to comment on the case after media inquiries on Tuesday.
The Swiss Federal Prosecution is now hoping for close cooperation with Malaysians. Under former prime minister Najib, investigators were still stranded. With the new government, cooperation should now be easier: "After the recent developments in Malaysia, the federal prosecutor is very interested in renewing the dialogue," said the authority.
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