FORMER Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner yesterday revealed how he used an email account under ex-wife Judy Chan’s name for various deceitful activities, Bloomberg reported today.

Posing as his then wife, Leissner first used the account to convince Kimora Lee Simmons, his girlfriend at the time, that the two were no longer married. He then went on to pose as Chan for years, swapping stories with Simmons about family vacations and other topics. 

Leissner is the United States’ government’s star witness against former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng, who is on trial in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal. Leissner pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the US, and has testified that Ng conspired with him to aid Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, draw off billions of dollars from Khazanah Nasional Bhd.

Ng’s lawyer Marc Agnifilo, in trying to undermine Leissner’s credibility by showing the jury that he is a “rare cunning liar”, quizzed Leissner on the fake email account yesterday.

Posing as his ex-wife, Leissner repeatedly declined Simmons’ invitations for Chan and her children to a vacation with the former model and her family in Paris, a ski holiday in Austria, and a private Caribbean island. In one instance, Leissner as Chan told Simmons she was unable to visit because she, Leissner and her children had been injured in a car crash.

“It was an entire life you completely falsified because you made the whole thing up?” Agnifilo asked. 

“The correspondence, yes,” Leissner said. “But an entire life may be too far.”

Agnifilo then showed Leissner an email he had sent Simmons, with Chan claiming she had caused the banker to be audited by the Internal Revenue Service.

“I don’t remember, but I see it here,” Leissner said.

Leissner also admitted to using the fake email address to communicate with Jho Low after the Malaysian contacted Chan in 2016, looking to sell fine art including a piece by Vincent van Gogh. He said Chan’s family owns China’s top winery, as well as other businesses.

“Jho was trying to monetise the painting and several others and he wanted to see if Judy or her family could be of help,” Leissner said.

Agnifilo asked why he pretended to be Chan while talking to Jho Low. 

“I wanted to protect Judy from him. I wanted to pacify him or be friends. I wanted to make an effort or appear I was attempting to help him,” Leissner said.

Leissner previously admitted he was twice married to two women at the same time, and said he had faked a divorce paper to marry Chan and later doctored a divorce decree to marry Simmons. – March 9, 2022.