Tim Leissner (born October 31, 1971) is a German-born investment banker and a former managing director at

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...

and chairman of the bank's Southeast Asia division. Leissner helped orchestrate the

1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal The 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, often referred to as the 1MDB scandal or just 1MDB, describes a corruption, bribery and money laundering conspiracy in which the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) was ...

, one of the biggest financial scandals in history, in which billions of dollars were stolen. He was arrested in June 2018 in Washington, D.C. In 2018 Leissner pled guilty to charges he personally stole $200 million from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and that he broke the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by paying bribes to corrupt Malaysian and Emirati offices to get Goldman Sachs business. Leissner was banned for life by the Securities and Exchange Commission and forced to pay a $43 million fine. Leissner faces up to 25 years in prison. He testified against his former deputy Roger Ng in a 2022 trial. Leissner is portrayed in the book "Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World" by Tom Wright and Bradley Hope of

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

, which focuses on

Jho Low Low Taek Jho (, born 4 November 1981), often called Jho Low, is a Malaysian fugitive businessman, wanted by authorities internationally in connection with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal (1MDB scandal). He has been named the mastermin ...

, the purported mastermind behind the 1MDB scheme. The book was published in September 2018.

Career

Leissner was employed by

from 1998 to 2016. He retired in January 2016 after an internal review found he sent a fake letter to

Banque Havilland Banque Havilland S.A. is a private bank headquartered in Luxembourg. It is owned by the Rowland family and provides services in private banking, wealth and asset management, fund services to private clients and institutions. Banque Havilland has ni ...

on behalf of

. In 2022, Bloomberg called Leissner "Goldman's most notorious banker." Goldman paid a record fine (over $5 billion) to the Malaysian and U.S. authorities over the scandal.

Personal life

In 2014 Leissner married Kimora Lee Simmons. They have 1 child together. At the time Leissner married Simmons, he was still married to his ex-wife, Judy Chan. Leissner gave Simmons photoshopped documents showing that he was divorced from Chan, and created an email address in Chan's name to convince Simmons that the couple was divorced. He continued the correspondence for over a year and continued using the email account for several years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leissner, Tim Living people 1971 births American investment bankers Goldman Sachs people German expatriates in the United States German money launderers