Ex Goldman Sachs SEA boss Tim Leissner has turned on his bank and providing fascinating information to the DOJ about the culture within Goldman Sachs. Many people have criticized Goldman for their unethical practices and I have also written posts about Goldman.
However what we are hearing now from Goldman's former Asian boss is a fascinating insight into the culture within Goldman from someone who is desperate to save his skin and not go to prison.
Dr Tim The Fraud
As I have written about before the former head of Goldman Sachs Asia was a playboy who liked everybody to call him Dr Tim because he must have thought it was cool. However as the 1MDB scandal broke it became clear that the good Dr Tim had purchased his doctorate from a degree mill. This deception was typical of his actions in the future.
Tim presided over several large fraudulent deals in Malaysia perhaps culminating in the 1MDB scandal. This deal raised $6.5 billion which appears to have been stolen but brought in $600 million in bonuses for the bank. The US Department of Justice has called the 1MDB scandal the largest kleptocracy case they have ever investigated. Tim has now flipped sides and appears to be working with the DOJ.
Surely this playboy doesn't have to go to prison! 😡
Honor Amongst Thieves?
The old adage that there is honor amongst thieves is clearly not true when we look how quickly Tim flipped to save his hide. I was alerted to this move by the excellent website Sarawak Report which is bravely and tenaciously run by Clare Rewcastle Brown. Here is the link to the article on this subject on Sarawak Report. I cannot stress how much I admire this website and its administrators! Bravo!
Confession Of A Goldman Sachs Banker
In his efforts to save himself Tim has made a fascinating confession in which he talks about the internal workings of Goldman Sachs. Here below is a portion of his own confession to the DOJ:
“…with the intent to benefit Goldman Sachs and myself, as an employee and agent of Goldman Sachs, I entered into a conspiracy with those individuals identified in the Government’s information to pay bribes and kickbacks to obtain and then retain business from 1MDB for Goldman Sachs. Including the person identified as …. Co-conspirator No 1 [Jho Low]….. For Instance, I knew that funds derived from Project Magnolia, specifically mentioned in the information, would be diverted to me and others, including government official, through shell companies beneficially owned and controlled by myself and others in U.S. dollars, and those financial transactions would be processed through the United States. I knew that the use of shell companies in these fund transfers was designed, at least in part, to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership and control of the diverted and the stolen funds.
The following is one specific instance involving the movement of funds: On or about October 10 2014, I caused approximately $4.1 million to be wire transferred from a foreign bank account controlled by myself and another individual to the U.S. bank account of a New York jeweler in part to pay for jewelry for the wife of a Malaysian government official. I understood that this payment to the New York jeweler was intended to benefit the Malaysian government official and his wife in order to influence them government official to take official acts that would help provide 1MDB business to Goldman Sachs, for the benefit of Goldman Sachs and myself.
During the course of the conspiracy I conspired with other employees and agents of Goldman Sachs very much in line of its culture to conceal facts from certain compliance and legal employees of Goldman Sachs, including the fact that Jho Low, who is identified as Co-Conspirator Number 1 in the information was acting as an intermediary for on behalf of Goldman Sachs, 1MDB and Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials…. I knew that concealing Jho Low’s involvement as an intermediary was contrary to Goldman Sach’s stated internal policies and procedures. I and several other employees of Goldman Sachs at the time also concealed that we knew that Jho Low was promising and paying bribes and kickbacks to foreign officials to obtain and retain 1MDB business for Goldman Sachs, for the benefit of Goldman Sachs and myself and using some of the proceeds of the 1MDB bonds to do so…. ” [Transcript of pleading by Tim Leissner]
A Fascinating Insight But We Need More!
Whatever deal Tim cuts with the DOJ he deserves to be prosecuted and go to jail for his crimes. However it doesn't end there. As Sarawak Report quite rightly points out in 2011 Tim and Goldman raised a separate off-shore bond for the then Chief Minister of Sarawak Taib Mahmud. The total of this bond was $1.6 billion, ostensibly to fund Taib’s SCORE (‘Corridor of Renewable Energy’/dam) program.
Looking into this deal it seems that another round of offshore complicated mechanisms were used to provide this money. Further investigation deserves to be done on Tim and once he finishes his prison term in the US he should be extradited to Malaysia to face more criminal charges there.
If we don't see these bankers go to jail nothing will change and the thievery will continue. We must discourage these criminals with long prison sentences!
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