Kimora Lee Simmons’ Husband Tim Leissner Caught Up In Multi-Million Dollar Money Laundering Scandal
Tim Leissner, husband of Kimora Lee Simmons, may be in some serious international hot water now that the FBI is investigating his involvement in a multi-million dollar money laundering scandal involving the Malaysian government and Goldman Sachs.
Here’s the scoop via the New York Post:
The fallout from the widening scandal hitting the white-shoe investment bank involves Tim Leissner, the Singapore-based chairman of Goldman’s Southeast Asia operations, who has left that country and relocated to Los Angeles on a leave of absence from the firm.
A state fund — 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) — was set up with Leissner’s assistance, and Goldman was paid sky-high commissions for bond sales. Then $681 million tied to the fund mysteriously turned up in the bank account of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.
The FBI reportedly is investigating all the fund’s transactions in concert with wider probes of money-laundering allegations spanning five countries.
These probes could force Goldman to face the wrath of a congressional inquiry, according to one legal expert.
Leissner, 45, who is married to Kimora Lee Simmons, the former wife of hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, lives a jet-setting lifestyle.
Kimora Lee, a businesswoman, designer and former model, last year opened a fashion boutique on tony Beverly Drive in Los Angeles.
She also has important connections. Kimora Lee is reportedly friendly with Razak’s wife, Rosmah Mansor.
Some of the fund’s transactions illustrate the cozy relationship between Goldman and the government.
The sum of three bond sales for 1MDB back in 2012 and 2013, totaling as much as $6.5 billion, reportedly yielded fees, commissions and expenses for Goldman of almost $593 million, the equivalent of 9.1 percent of the money raised. The typical cut for an investment bank is about 5 percent.
“If it exceeds the limit Malaysia sets for investment managers of a fund, then Goldman will have to deal with some negative kickback from Malaysia,” said Dick Bove, a bank industry analyst at Rafferty Capital Markets.
Not that everyone on Wall Street is acting surprised.
“It is a known fact that there is a lot of fraud, and under-the-table stuff like that happens if you are a bank and want to get business done in foreign countries like Malaysia,” said one veteran regulator. Another person who has considered the Goldman case said with a wink that there may have been multiple “managers” feeding off Goldman’s lucrative Malaysian business — in effect, accepting kickbacks.
At the center of the controversy is Leissner, who left the country just as Malaysian officials began ratcheting up the heat on the Malyasian prime minister.
Get more on this story by visiting the NY Post.
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