KUALA LUMPUR — Former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner is seeking a presidential pardon before commencing his prison sentence for embezzling US$4.5 billion from 1MDB.
Bloomberg reports that Leissner, Goldman’s former Southeast Asia chairman, filed his pardon application to the US Department of Justice (DoJ) between September and November last year, according to a notice on the DoJ website and archived copies of the submission online.
In 2018, Leissner had pleaded guilty to the fraud, and had cooperated with prosecutors to become the US government’s star witness in a 2022 trial against former Goldman colleague, Roger Ng, a Malaysian.
Leissner had argued that he should be spared a prison sentence because of his cooperation, but was still ordered to jail for two years by a US federal judge.
Judge Margo Brodie who presided over Leissner’s case, had found him to be “brazen and audacious”, never taking responsibility for his actions, besides telling “serial lies”. Brodie said a prison term was warranted, because without him, the massive fraud may never have happened
Leissner is scheduled to begin his prison sentence in Southern California on February 6.
His appeal for pardon is among thousands of clemency requests currently under review by the White House.
US media report that President Donald Trump had recently granted clemency to more than 20 people, including several convicted of white-collar crimes. – January 23, 2026