Trio charged in vast bribery scheme
They allegedly pillaged fund owned by Malaysia
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced charges Thursday against a fugitive Malaysian financier and two former Goldman Sachs bankers accused in a money-laundering and bribery scheme that pilfered billions of dollars from a Malaysian investment fund.
A three-count indictment charges Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, with misappropriating money from the state-owned fund, which was created to spur economic development projects in Malaysia. He allegedly used it for bribes and kickbacks to foreign officials; to pay for luxury real estate, art and jewelry in the United States; and to help finance Hollywood movies, including “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
Also charged was a former Goldman Sachs banker, Tim Leissner, who pleaded guilty to money-laundering conspiracy and to conspiring to violate foreign bribery laws. Another former bank offi- cial, Ng Chong Hwa, 51, also known as Roger Ng, was arrested earlier Thursday in Malaysia and accused of circumventing internal accounting controls, prosecutors said.
A spokesman for Goldman Sachs, which the indictment says raised about $6.5 billion through bond offerings for the fund, said the firm “continues to cooperate with all authorities investigating this matter.”
Police in Malaysia said in July that Low had fled Macau to an unknown destination. Before facing criminal charges, Low became well known in the New York City and Los Angeles club scenes. In 2012, he threw a lavish 31st birthday bash attended by Leonardo Dicaprio, Kim Kardashian and other celebrities that The Wall Street Journal called the “wildest party (Las) Vegas ever saw.”
Low, who remains at large, issued a statement through a spokesman maintaining his innocence.
Leissner acknowledged paying millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks to government officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi, according to court records. He was ordered to forfeit $43.7 million as part of his guilty plea.
The charges are among the first arising from the epic corruption scandal at the state investment fund known as 1MDB. The Justice Department in 2016 moved to recover more than $1 billion that it said had been stolen, filing a civil complaint that sought the forfeiture of property including a Manhattan penthouse, a Beverly Hills mansion, a luxury jet and paintings by Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet.