*

Leissner cooperated with authorities, aiding 1MDB

investigation

*

Goldman Sachs ( GS ) fined $3 billion, Malaysian unit pleaded

guilty

*

Former colleague Roger Ng sentenced to 10 years,

transported to

Malaysia for probes

(Updates with detail from paragraph 4-13)

By Saeed Azhar

NEW YORK, May 29 (Reuters) - Former Goldman Sachs

banker Tim Leissner was sentenced to two years in prison by a

judge in a New York court on Thursday after he pleaded guilty in

2018 for his involvement in a multi-billion dollar scandal

involving Malaysia's sovereign fund 1MDB.

Leissner's conduct was "brazen and audacious," judge Margo

Brodie said during sentencing. While his cooperation with the

government was taken into account, it did not make up for the

harm caused by the corruption at the highest levels in several

countries, the judge said.

"First and foremost, I offer my sincere apology to the

people of Malaysia," Leissner, 55, told the hearing, his voice

breaking as he read a statement. "I deeply regret my actions."

Goldman helped sell $6.5 billion of bonds for 1MDB,

which former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak set up with

the help of Malaysian financier Jho Low to promote economic

development.

U.S. and Malaysian authorities have said $4.5 billion

was siphoned away, with some diverted to offshore bank accounts

and shell companies linked to Low, who is now a fugitive.

Leissner, former Southeast Asia chairman for Goldman,

became a U.S. government witness in the case after his arrest in

2018. He pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to violate the Foreign

Corrupt Practices Act and participating in a money laundering

conspiracy, all tied to his role in the 1MDB scheme.

He was allowed to remain free after he agreed to help

the government in the investigation and testified against former

banking colleague Roger Ng.

Leissner met with the government on dozens of occasions,

reviewing countless documents and communications he received

related to the 1MDB scheme and other matters, according to a

filing by prosecutors.

Prosecutors requested the court impose a sentence below

the applicable guidelines range due to Leissner's cooperation in

the probe.

Leissner told the court that he had lost his freedom,

family and financial independence in the wake of the scandal.

The former executive said his health also suffered, and that he

took pills and lost the will to live.

Goldman said in a letter to the court on May 21 that

Leissner deceived his colleagues for years, culminating in the

only criminal case filed against Goldman in its 156-year

history.

Goldman in 2020 paid a nearly $3 billion fine and arranged

for its Malaysian unit to plead guilty in U.S. court. It also

clawed back $174 million in executive compensation.

Malaysia's top court in 2022 upheld a guilty verdict

against Najib for corruption and money laundering, sentencing

him to 12 years in prison. The sentence was later halved by a

pardons board chaired by Malaysia's former king.

Ng has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to

launder money and violate an anti-bribery law. The former head

of investment banking for Goldman in Malaysia was convicted in

Brooklyn and sentenced to 10 years in prison, but transported to

Malaysia in 2023 to assist probes there.