Leissner a ‘double bigamist’ who uses people, says Ng’s lawyer

 

Tim Leissner is trying to get Roger Ng to do his jail time, argues the Malaysian’s lawyer.

NEW YORK: A lawyer for former Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker Roger Ng assailed Ng’s former boss and the government’s star witness, Tim Leissner, as a “double bigamist” who was testifying against Ng only to save himself.

“Tim Leissner uses people,” defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo told jurors on Monday in his opening statement in Brooklyn, New York, saying Leissner was “married to two different women at the same time, twice”.

Leissner “uses women, he uses false intimacy, and now he’s trying to use my client to get him to do his jail time,” Agnifilo told the panel. “He’s trying to use Roger.”

Ng went on trial on Monday accused of conspiring to violate US anti-money laundering law in a scheme to loot billions from 1MDB. In opening statements by the government, federal prosecutor Brent Wible told jurors that the former banker had reaped US$35 million in what he called a “brazen” scam.

Wible said Ng secretly agreed with Leissner and Malaysian businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, to help Low siphon off hundreds of millions of dollars raised for three bond transactions tied to 1MDB originally designed for projects in Malaysia.

“This was a scheme to steal US$1 billion,” Wible said in his opening statement. “The defendant, Roger Ng, saw an opportunity to get rich by cheating.” The trio paid bribes to officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi to “look the other way”, he said.

In his own opening, Agnifilo warned the jury to question Leissner’s credibility when he takes the stand, saying Ng’s former boss repeatedly forged documents, including divorce papers when he was accused of being a bigamist.

He said Leissner “started out in life as immoral” and that “Low sets Leissner’s immorality on fire”. The illicit partnership prompted the star banker to pursue a high-flying life of luxury like Low and to seek out money to buy private planes, yachts and homes in Beverly Hills, he said.

Leissner bought homes “for all the women in his life” and became a “mini version of Low”, Agnifilo said. The banker later married former model and clothing executive Kimora Lee Simmons, he said.

He said Leissner had failed to take responsibility for his crimes.

“He blames it all on Kimora,” he said. “Watch how many people he blames. But the blame is on Leissner and Leissner alone.”

He said Ng “has no motive and he did not commit this crime”.

The trial is expected to last as long as six weeks. - FMT