WASHINGTON, D.C.—Dennis Kelleher, Cofounder, President, and CEO of Better Markets, issued the following statement on the sentencing of Tim Leissner, scheduled for this Thursday, May 29th, and the release of the attached “Memo to Interested Parties” that Better Markets is issuing today:
“Goldman Sachs, via partner and senior executive Tim Leissner and at least 30 other executives and supervisors, was at the core of the global looting and money-laundering scandal known as ‘1MDB,’ described as ‘one of the greatest financial heists in history.’ While Goldman pleaded guilty to a criminal charge years ago, Leissner is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday for his central role in orchestrating and leading Goldman’s participation in the years-long criminal activities. That sentence, as discussed in the memo, should include significant prison time as well as additional financial sanctions to ensure Leissner keeps none of the tens of millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains he received. This sentencing also needs to send a vital deterrence message to Wall Street financiers and others who think of engaging in complex financial crimes: It’s not worth the punishment.
“Leissner’s plea for leniency—no jail time, he argues—rests on his cooperation during the government’s investigation and its prosecution of another, more junior participant in the scheme. But while the government must often rely on the cooperation of wrongdoers to unravel complex financial crime, and while the court should take cooperation into account during sentencing, it should not be a get-out-of-jail free card. That’s especially true here, where Leissner’s acts were egregious, willful, prolonged, profitable, and extraordinarily damaging. As a result of these shocking and egregious crimes—motivated by pure greed—billions of dollars intended to help the Malaysian people were stolen, and the democratic process in Malaysia was derailed, enabling the corrupt prime minister to remain in power for five additional years. And Leissner decided to cooperate only after he was caught, after he tipped off some of his co-conspirators (who remain fugitives), and after he failed in attempting to blame others.
“Anything less than serious prison time and additional disgorgement and fines for Leissner will fail to punish or deter—that will motivate corporate and financial lawbreakers who already rarely get caught, much less appropriately punished.”
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Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street, and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies—including many in finance—to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.org.
