The New York trial that has it all: Hollywood, megayachts, giant sums of money

[babylonsister]

The New York trial that has it all: Hollywood, megayachts, giant sums of money
The 1MDB swindle is one of the most remarkable cases to hit New York’s justice system in years – but the trial poses a number of unanswered questions
Edward Helmore in New York
Sun 6 Mar 2022 05.00 EST

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The astonishing 1MDB swindle has now reached Brooklyn federal court in one of the most remarkable cases to hit New York’s justice system in years. It has it all: Hollywood, corruption, some of the biggest names in arts, business and politics and eye-popping sums of money.

According to prosecutors, Low, and two bankers from Goldman Sachs, the most prestigious of US investment banks which reported $21.64bn in net earnings last year, conspired to pay $1bn in bribes to Malaysian and Abu Dhabi government officials, in order to win Goldman $6.5bn in bond offerings.

For the past two weeks, the one-time Goldman Sachs star banker Tim Leissner, 50, has been testifying against a former head of Goldman in Malaysia, Roger Ng, 49, who has pleaded not guilty to laundering billions of dollars embezzled from the fund, known formally as 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

Sixteen months ago Goldman pleaded guilty to a criminal charge and paid $5bn in fines for its role in the fraud that Ng’s own lawyers, in attempting to shift responsibility to Low, have called it “perhaps the single largest heist in the history of the world”.

The trial has produced some surprising moments, among them Leissner’s claim that Low claimed to have a “dialogue” in Beijing with Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, and others in Trump’s inner circle to shut down the 1MDB inquiries.

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/06/1mdb-trial-new-york-corruption?utm_source=pocket-newtab

[chowder66]

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