When Timothy Leissner, a former Goldman Sachs executive, testified against Roger Ng, he gave us an interesting insight into the shallow lives of some of Malaysia's elite.
Ng is another Goldman banker who is facing corruption charges in the 1MDB scandal.
Last week's court proceedings in New York should have reminded you of the similarities with the long-forgotten Scorpene deal. If there's money involved, there's bound to be sex, sleaze and the seductress (3Ss).
In the Scorpene deal, the convicted felon, Najib Abdul Razak's aide, Razak Baginda, handled the purchase of the submarines from the French contractor, DCN. Baginda's translator was Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu. Once the Scorpene deal was successfully negotiated, the two reportedly toured Europe in a Ferrari sports car.
In the Scorpene scandal, Najib was defence minister. In the 1MDB scandal, Najib was prime minister. And while the troubled sovereign fund was Jho Low's brainchild, Najib was his enabler. Both Leissner and Ng, with Jho Low's help, were involved in a scam which had Najib's fingerprints all over it.
Both jobs - 1MDB and Scorpene - involved huge sums of money and lots of sex, sleaze and scandals. If case you have not yet connected the dots, the common link is Najib.
At, or around, the same time as Razak Baginda's European tryst, Leissner's sexual liaison was being conducted in Malaysia. His lover was Rohana Rozhan, the Measat Broadcast executive and former CEO of Astro Malaysia Holdings.
In 2013, when Leissner wanted to end their affair, he claimed Rohana threatened to inform the authorities about his role in the 1MDB scandal unless he bought her a US$10 million house in central London.
In the Scorpene deal, Altantuya allegedly demanded US$500,000 payment for her 'translation' services.
Poor role models
For years, Rohana gave interviews about empowering women, about women in corporate roles and how women should strive harder to achieve their ambitions.
The allegation that she knew about Leissner and Ng's crime and her refusal to report it, says a lot about her personality.
There were two other women who were mentioned in Leissner's testimony. Both were politically connected. So, what pillow talk was exchanged that would have benefited Goldman? Are some Malay women extremely naïve, or very easy to please?
Why did Najib's daughter confirm that she was merely the PowerPoint girl? Why draw attention to herself?
Allegedly sleeping one's way to the top and acquiring property through blackmail gives the wrong message to young girls. These women may hold high office, or have family in high places, but their actions show their level of moral degradation.
Leissner claimed that his relationship with Rohana was an open secret. If truth be told, there are many such relationships among KL's high society. Leggy and well-endowed European blondes and local Malaysian men, and local Malaysian women have longstanding relationships with western males, who hold powerful corporate roles.
Leissner's liaison is not the first, nor last, well known 'open secret'.
One wonders why the ‘khalwat’ squad is over-active when it comes to breaking down doors in seedy hotel rooms to shame B40 lovers when they catch them in flagrante delicto?
Why is the khalwat squad reluctant to humiliate high society lovers?
Conflict of interest
Leissner claimed that his boss knew about his relationships with local women, two of whom were politically connected.
It does not say much about the company if its employee continues the romance, and continues to be employed, despite the conflict of interest.
But why are we surprised? Goldman is more interested in generating profits rather than observing the moral code.
In the past, relationships between non-Malay men and Muslim women have resulted in the male being forced to convert to marry the Muslim woman. Perhaps, the couples were caught in flagrante delicto and there were four witnesses. These couples were mostly from the lower-income bracket.
So, are westerners and elite Muslim locals more careful? Or is there another reason why the moral police avoid them?
Once, when a friend's son was caught in a raid on a nightclub, they were not given ample warning to escape via the back door. The detained, including the children of the Malay elites, were bundled into the back of a Black Maria. The following morning, the police officers were given an earful for detaining various ministers' children.
Clearly, it is a case of one law for the peasants and another for the elite.
Malaysians who live and work in London are aware that some areas are the haunt of Malaysian politicians and the privileged. It is alleged that many of the homes are bought with the proceeds of money laundering.
After Leissner's testimony, add blackmail to the list of how some Malaysians acquired their property.
His revelations have shown that Malaysian high society is despicable and that they lost their moral compass a long time ago. - Mkini
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army, and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, Twitter.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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