Ex-Goldman banker seeks pardon in 1MDB fraud case
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Tim Leissner pleaded guilty in 2018 to engaging in a scheme to embezzle US$4.5 billion from Malaysian fund 1MDB.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
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WASHINGTON – Tim Leissner, the former Goldman Sachs Group 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.
Leissner filed his pardon application to the US Justice Department in 2025, according to a notice on the department’s website. It was submitted between Sept 3 and Nov 18, according to archived copies posted on lawyeroyer.com.
Leissner, Goldman’s former South-east 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.
Mr 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”. The judge 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 global probes related to 1MDB, including US$2.9 billion in one of the largest penalties in history for a violation of US anti-bribery laws.
The German citizen is scheduled to surrender to a facility in Southern California early in February. Ms Brodie ordered Leissner to begin serving his term on Nov 17, but allowed him to remain free until Jan 12. Earlier in January his lawyer, Mr Henry Mazurek, said prison officials needed time to find a facility close to family in California and asked that he surrender on Feb 6.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn declined to comment. Mr Mazurek did not immediately return a voicemail and e-mail 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 prison, was sent to Malaysia to face trial there in 2023 under an agreement with the US. In December 2025, 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.” BLOOMBERG
