Goldman's tactic in huge Malaysian fraud case: Smear an ex-partner
They sound like the ingredients of a pulpy thriller: Bigamy. Secret religious conversions. A doctorate from a mail-order diploma mill. Affairs with powerful women.
The sordid list a mixture of facts, accusations and insinuations, packaged in a glossy slide show represents the crux of a well-orchestrated campaign by Goldman Sachs to discredit one of its former partners and to minimize the Wall Street banks role in the looting of a big Malaysian investment fund.
In recent presentations to U.S. regulators and law-enforcement authorities, according to people familiar with their contents, Goldman executives and their lawyers have depicted Tim Leissner, a former top investment banker, as a master con man, someone so sneaky even the retired military intelligence officers who work for the bank couldnt sniff him out.
The scorched-earth tactics, especially against someone who had been a star banker, reflect just how worried Goldman is about the criminal investigations into its role in the theft of at least $2.7 billion from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB, sovereign wealth fund.
Read more: https://www.bendbulletin.com/business/6853504-151/goldmans-tactic-in-huge-malaysian-fraud-case-smear