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Bloomberg

Tim Leissner, the former Goldman Sachs banker who admitted his role in one of the largest financial frauds in history, is seeking a presidential pardon before he surrenders to a federal prison in the US.
Leissner filed his pardon application to the US Justice Department last year, according to a notice on the DOJ website. It was submitted between September 3 and November 18, according to archived copies posted on lawyeroyer.com.
Leissner, Goldman’s former Southeast Asia chairman, pleaded guilty in 2018 to engaging in a scheme to embezzle US$4.5 billion from Malaysian fund 1MDB. He cooperated with prosecutors and became the US government’s star witness against a former Goldman colleague at a 2022 trial in Brooklyn, New York.
The White House is sifting through thousands of clemency requests, including a pardon bid by Archegos Capital Management founder Bill Hwang, who was convicted over the collapse of his US$36 billion family office, and Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who is serving an 11-year sentence for defrauding investors in her blood-testing start-up.
Last week, US President Donald Trump granted clemency to more than 20 people, including several convicted of white-collar crimes. Trump says he is using his unchecked clemency powers to correct abuses in the criminal justice system against those prosecuted for political reasons. But critics say he is abusing the process and undermining the work of prosecutors.
At his May sentencing, Leissner and prosecutors argued he should be spared prison because his cooperation resulted in the conviction of a former colleague and billions of dollars in global fines against Goldman. But a federal judge ordered him jailed for two years, calling his conduct “brazen and audacious”.
US District Judge Margo Brodie, who presided over the case, cited a letter Goldman Sachs sent her that said he never took responsibility for his actions and “serial lies”. Brodie said a prison term was warranted because without him, the massive fraud may never have happened.


Goldman paid more than US$5 billion to settle a global investigation related to 1MDB, including US$2.9 billion in one of the largest penalties in history for a violation of US anti-bribery laws.
Goldman also sued Leissner, saying in a letter to the court it is trying to recoup at least US$20.7 million it paid Leissner while he was working on 1MDB transactions. The bank won an award for that amount from a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority panel in 2022, which was upheld by a federal judge in Manhattan a year later.
“Mr Leissner has still not repaid one penny,” Goldman’s general counsel Kathryn Ruemmler said.
The German citizen is scheduled to surrender to a facility in Southern California early next month. Brodie ordered Leissner to begin serving his term on November 17, but allowed him to remain free until January 12. Earlier this month, his lawyer, Henry Mazurek, said prison officials needed time to find a facility close to family in California and asked that he surrender on February 6.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn declined to comment. Mazurek did not immediately return a voicemail and email seeking comment.
The 1MDB fraud toppled the Malaysian government and led to investigations in six countries.

At the trial of Roger Ng, his former Goldman colleague, Leissner testified that he worked with Ng and Malaysian financier Jho Low, who was the alleged architect of the 1MDB fraud. Low, who was also charged by the US, remains a fugitive. Before he was charged, Low denied wrongdoing.
Ng, who was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison, was sent to Malaysia to face trial there in 2023 under an agreement with the US. In December, the Malaysian government announced it was seeking Leissner’s extradition for crimes related to the 1MDB fraud.
At his sentencing in Brooklyn, Leissner begged to be spared prison.
“I know how terrible my crime was,” he said. “In the process of telling the government and the world about 1MDB, I have had to publicly face the fact that I helped steal billions of dollars not just from individuals, but from an entire nation.”


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The German citizen is scheduled to begin serving his two-year jail term at a facility in Southern California early next month


The German citizen is scheduled to begin serving his two-year jail term at a facility in Southern California early next month.


1MDB convict and ex-Goldman banker Tim Leissner seeks pardon from Trump

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The German citizen is scheduled to begin serving his two-year jail term at a facility in Southern California early next month

The German citizen is scheduled to begin serving his two-year jail term at a facility in Southern California early next month