A US court yesterday ordered former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner to surrender US$43.7 million (RM643.2 million) cash and 3.3 million shares in energy drink company Celsius Holdings over his role in the defrauding of Malaysian sovereign fund 1MDB, Bloomberg reports.

The former head of the investment bank’s Southeast Asia division had pleaded guilty in 2018 to charges of money laundering and bribery. He was accused of conspiring to steal from 1MDB and receiving more than US$60 million in kickbacks.

Leissner was the prosecution witness in the trial of Roger Ng, another former Goldman employee also involved in the international scandal. Ng faces up to 30 years in jail for what prosecutors said was a central role in the 1MDB conspiracy.

In 2012 and 2013, Goldman Sachs helped to arrange for bond deals to raise US$6.5 billion for 1MDB. Prosecutors said more than US$4 billion was stolen by the highest-ranking Malaysian government officials and their cronies, and that the US investment bankers helped to launder some of the money.

Ownership of Celsius remains in dispute after Ng last year filed a complaint accusing Leissner of “repeatedly lying” to steal the former’s investment in the company. 

The US court yesterday said the Celsius shares were held at a JPMorgan Chase & Co account in the name of Leissner’s former wife, Kimora Lee Simmons, adding that anyone who asserts legal interest in the shares may file a petition with the court.  – March 4, 2023.