On March 13, 2017, the central bank had issued a 10-year PO against Leissner, prohibiting him from performing any regulated activity under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA) and taking part, whether directly or indirectly, in the management of any capital markets services firm in Singapore.
The PO was imposed after Leissner was found to have issued an unauthorised reference letter on behalf of Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC to a financial institution based in Luxembourg, to which he had made false statements without the firm’s knowledge.
On Nov 1 last year, the US DOJ charged Leissner with conspiracy to commit money laundering and violating the US Foreign Corrupt Practice Act.
He pleaded guilty to the charges and admitted to participating in a conspiracy to obtain and retain business from 1MDB for Goldman Sachs through the promise and payment of bribes and kickbacks to government officials in Abu Dhabi and Malaysia.
The charges also included embezzlement of funds from 1MDB for himself and others and to launder the bribes, kickbacks and funds through financial systems in the US and elsewhere.
MAS said the US DOJ’s charges and Leissner’s guilty plea provided proof of his involvement in fund flows related to 1MDB, evidence of which was previously not available to MAS.
It said since the commencement of investigations into 1MDB-related fund flows in 2015, MAS had been investigating the conduct and involvement of the relevant individuals, including Leissner.
The 10-year PO issued against Leissner in March 2017 was based on the limited information available to MAS at that time.
MAS said it was unable to interview Leissner as he was not in Singapore and could not be compelled to travel to Singapore to assist in investigations.
After careful consideration of Leissner’s admission to participation in the conspiracy, as well as the US DOJ’s criminal actions against him, MAS has decided to vary the PO against him according to Section 101C of the Securities and Futures Act (SFA) by extending the duration to a lifetime prohibition.
The scope of the PO was also expanded to prohibit him from acting as a director or becoming a substantial shareholder or a capital markets services licensee.
At its annual report media conferences in 2016 and 2017, MAS had made it clear that it would consider any new evidence related to the 1MDB fund flows and would take further enforcement actions where appropriate.
The latest action against Leissner arose from the close cooperation and continuing investigations by law enforcement and regulatory authorities in the US, Singapore and other countries, said MAS.