Singapore bans ex-Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner for life after 1MDB scandal

Singapore has banned a former Goldman Sachs director from the country’s securities industry for life after he admitted to criminal charges connected to the 1MDB scandal.

Tim Leissner was banned by authorities for 10 years in 2017 but has been hit with a lifetime ban after he pleaded guilty in the US to conspiracy to commit money laundering, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said today.

“The US Department of Justice charges and Mr Leissner’s guilty plea have provided further evidence of Mr Leissner’s involvement in fund flows related to 1MDB which were not previously available to MAS," the authority said.

The scope of the prohibition order has been expanded and Leissner has been banned from becoming a substantial shareholder or capital markets services licensee.

A second former Goldman Sachs banker, Roger Ng, appeared in court today and pleaded not guilty to four counts of abetting the bank to provide misleading statements in the offering prospectus for the bonds that the bank helped sell for 1MDB, Reuters reported. 

A criminal investigation is scrutinising three bond offerings raised by Goldman Sachs and others for Malaysian state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) to a total of $6.5bn (£5.2bn).

On Monday, Malaysian authorities published a charge sheet naming London-based Goldman Sachs International, Goldman Sachs (Singapore) PTE and Hong-Kong based Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC.

Filed under Malaysia's securities laws, Leissner, former Goldman banker Roger Ng, former 1MDB employee Jasmine Loo and the fugitive financier known as Jho Low were also included in the charges.