FORMER Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad group CEO Rohana Rozhan said today she has seen the anti-corruption authorities over reports linking her to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.

She said she has given full cooperation to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), following claims of alleged blackmail of former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner.

“I refer to allegations appearing in the media about me,” she said briefly in a statement. 

“I’ve attended at the office of MACC and given my full cooperation in their investigation.”

Her statement did not disclose when the meeting took place. 

News portal Free Malaysia Today, however, reported last night that her statement had been taken.

It said MACC has opened an investigation following the testimony of Leissner, who was Goldman Sachs Southeast Asia chief, in the bribery trial of his subordinate, Roger Ng.

In the trial, ongoing in a US federal court in New York, Leissner said he was blackmailed by Rohana, who threatened to expose his dealings with 1MDB when they broke up after a 10-year affair.

He told the jury that he had bought Rohana a US$10 million property in London in 2013 for her silence.

Goldman Sachs had helped 1MDB raise US$6.5 billion in bonds and received a hefty US$600 million in fees for it.

In 2018, Leissner pleaded guilty to charges of violating US anti-corruption and money laundering laws, and is now a star witness in Ng’s trial.

Ng, 49, is accused of conspiring with Leissner and wanted businessman Low Taek Jho to launder money embezzled from 1MDB and violating US anti-bribery laws.

He is the only former Goldman Sachs banker to go on trial in the scandal. – February 25, 2022.