Sitting in the witness box in a criminal trial allows both the prosecution and defence to a no-holds-barred session where dirty secrets of the witness’ personal and private life come under intense scrutiny.
Some can be mundane but in some cases, sensational details are revealed.
In the process, many skeletons in the closet are unearthed - the witness’ private life is laid bare allowing the court of public opinion to make non-judicial pronouncements.
When the star witness in a case involving Malaysian banker Roger Ng took the stand in a New York courtroom, he had already spilt all in a deposition made previously to the prosecution.
Tim Leissner (above), the former Asian chief of Goldman Sachs knew his credibility would be torn to bits. It turned out that the jury heard saucy details of his marriages and adulterous lifestyle.
[Leissner had previously pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He agreed to forfeit US$43.7 million (RM183 million) and will be sentenced later this year.]
Leissner, was made to detail his extramarital affairs – including one where a mistress purportedly blackmailed him into buying her a US$10 million (RM42 million) house.
He was labelled by the defence as a double bigamist who the defence lawyer said had been “married to two different women at the same time, twice.” He was characterised as one who “uses women and uses false intimacy.”
The testimony of Leissner before a jury has an uncanny resemblance to the conduct of some of our politicians.
In his previous life, Leissner must have been a Malaysian politician! His traits are so similar to some of our Yang Berhormat.
Just when you thought fake degrees and PhDs were the exclusive spheres of Malaysian personalities, Leissner joined their ranks with a fake doctorate.
Despite having other prefixes to their names, many want that “Dr” in front of their names, giving the impression that they have reached such intellectual levels to make them different from the ordinary person.
Besides, some politicians think that professional qualifications add an element of credibility when they speak (Read: spread their propaganda). “Dr Tim Leissner” did not study for years to earn his degree.
He got it online from the University of Somerset, which was closed in 1998 following complaints that it was a “degree mill”.
Familiar? Ask Serdang MP, Ong Kian Meng. He has been doggedly chasing and exposing many of our YBs with fake degrees. In Parliament, he named two ministers with fake degrees.
Serial womaniser
Like some of YBs, Leissner was married multiple times and one of them, a “trophy wife”.
He was already married when he met and married Judy Chan who was then working as a junior analyst in Goldman Sachs. It is unclear when exactly they got married but divorced in 2013.
He then married Kimora Lee, an American model, television personality and businesswoman and had her own reality television shows - “Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane” and “Kimora: House of Fab”.
Familiar? Like Leissner, some of our YBs want to acquire showbiz personalities and models and have no qualms about showing off their “capture”, posing for press photographers and TV cameras.
Leissner was a serial womaniser having a string of affairs with at least three Malaysians, all of whom were named in on the ongoing trial.
Familiar? At least one minister’s name appeared in a statutory declaration made by a lawyer in his divorce petition. Of course, the issue of going across the border to take a new wife is not that uncommon in Malaysia.
Leissner claimed one woman with whom he was having an affair for 10 years had blackmailed him into buying a house in London. We need not have to take his word for it; we have not heard from the other side. What if she says that it was a parting gift before break-off?
Familiar? How many of YBs have made such settlements without them being made public?
In 2004, one MP was asked to pay his first wife RM11.2 million in settlements for allegedly divorcing her to marry a much younger wife.
In 2007 however, the Syariah Appeals Court allowed for his appeal to not pay his ex-wife.
Leissner also made a “donation” of US$300,000 (RM1.26 million) to Badan Amal dan Kebajikan Tenaga Isteri-Isteri (Bakti), which he described as a “substantial amount”.
(Bakti is a group for the wives of MPs and cabinet ministers. It mainly performs charity work. The wife of the prime minister chairs Bakti by default. It was formed in 1977.)
Leissner told the court that making the donation to Bakti would allow Goldman Sachs to “continue their work” and “improve (their) relationship with the first family”.
Familiar? We have heard testimonies in court where businessmen were asked to make payments to a Yayasan (foundation) headed by a minister. Part of the money was used for his personal expenses.
Ng’s trial started this week but has been postponed after the prosecution revealed that it has not yet handed over about 15,500 documents, including records from email accounts and a laptop that belonged to Leissner.
When the trial resumes, there is likely to be more salacious details because Leissner is still in the witness box. - Mkini
R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist and writes on bread-and-butter issues. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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