Goldman Sachs has parted ways with a top banker who is embroiled along with the firm in a growing scandal over Malaysia’s troubled state investment fund.
Tim Leissner, Goldman’s Singapore-based chairman for Southeast Asia, left the Wall Street firm earlier this month, a bank spokesman said on Wednesday.
Leissner, who is married to glamorous businesswoman and former model Kimora Lee Simmons, relocated to Los Angeles and took personal leave in January amid multiple graft and corruption probes into state-owned 1Malaysia Development Bhd.
Leissner is under scrutiny for his cozy relationships with top Malaysia officials, including the country’s prime minister, Najib Razak, who set up 1MDB to foster growth.
But billions have been diverted from the fund, including nearly $700 million that showed up in Razak’s personal accounts, according to a Swiss audit. Razak has denied wrongdoing.
Leissner was instrumental in helping Goldman land a series of controversial bond deals for 1MDB, which is now struggling with debt. The bank is taking heat for the lucrative — some say “exorbitant” — investment banking fees it charged the fund.
Goldman worked on nearly $19 billion in Malaysian mergers and acquisitions over the past five years, making it the top foreign adviser to that country, according to Bloomberg News.