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A former Goldman Sachs banker who helped orchestrate the looting of a multi-billion dollar Malaysian government investment fund told a federal judge that several other employees of the prestigious Wall Street firm had also been involved, according to a document filed Friday.
The banker, Tim Leissner, told the judge that he had "conspired with other employees and agents of Goldman Sachs" to prevent employees from the legal and compliance department from discovering that bribes wine and bribes were paid to help the bank to get more than $ 6 billion in bonds work for the investment fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
In his guilty plea in August, Mr. Leissner also stated that his decision to conceal his actions for Goldman's compliance was "entirely consistent" with a broader culture of the company.
Mr. Leissner's recent statements are the latest indication of Goldman's role in a scandal centered on the looting of more than $ 2.7 billion of an investment fund to benefit the Malaysian people. Instead, the money has helped fund the lavish lifestyles of people linked to former Prime Minister Najib Razak, whom the Malaysian authorities have charged with bribery in July.
On August 28, Mr. Leissner pleaded guilty to bribery and money laundering in Brooklyn. Federal prosecutors released the redacted transcript of the plea hearing Friday after Judge Margo K. Brodie of Brooklyn approved a request from New York Times lawyers. lift a sealing order during the proceedings.
During the hearing, Mr. Leissner stated that his colleagues, whose name was not known, had hidden the fund's participation alongside Jho Low, a flamboyant Malaysian financier, to the Goldman compliance team. . Mr. Leissner stated that Mr. Low served as an intermediary for Goldman in his dealings with Malaysian officials and with 1MDB.
"At the time, I and several other Goldman Sachs employees also concealed that we knew that Jho Low was promising kickbacks and bribing foreign officials to obtain and keep 1MDB for Goldman Sachs, "he told Justice Brodie.
In October, Low was charged with bribery and money laundering abroad with another former Goldman banker, Roger Ng.
The bank said it was cooperating with the investigation. A person familiar with the case, but not allowed to speak in public, said that Goldman was unaware of the identity of the employees to whom Mr. Leissner was referring in his plea beyond himself and Mr. ng.
Mr. Ng, who reported to Mr. Leissner, was arrested last week in Malaysia and federal prosecutors are considering seeking extradition to the United States. Low, who is also wanted by the Malaysian authorities for criminal offenses, is a fugitive.
Federal prosecutors have disclosed the indictment against Mr. Low and Mr. Ng, as well as criminal information in respect of which Mr. Leissner pleaded guilty last week.
Mr. Leissner's indictment document described another Goldman executive as a conspiracy in the bribery scheme. The banker has been identified by people familiar with the subject, such as Andrea Vella, who recently served as co-head of Goldman's investment banking group in Asia. He was suspended by Goldman last week. Mr. Vella could not be reached for comment.
After prosecutors released the details of their case last week, Goldman Sachs said for the first time in a regulatory file that he was expecting to pay "significant fines" to solve the problem. investigation into his role in the 1MDB scandal. The bank generated commissions of more than $ 600 million on the three bond transactions.
Until last week, Goldman had sought to describe his role as a victim of Mr. Leissner's actions, which the bank had described as unauthorized employee. The company put Mr. Leissner on leave more than two years ago after discovering that he had personally guaranteed Mr. Low's character on Goldman's letterhead without the permission of the bank.
