Kimora Lee Simmons’ Husband Tim Leissner Linked To Shady Deals In Malaysia
Bad news for Kimora… Her ballin’ billionaire hubby may have to stand before a congressional inquiry over a deal he put together in Malaysia that has fallen under serious suspicion.
According to NY Post reports:
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 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.
“People are smelling something here,” Gary Swiman, head of compliance and regulatory consulting services at EisnerAmper, told The Post. “This has been a disaster for Goldman.”
Swiman says Leissner could afford to live like a rock star. “He may have been one of the highest-paid people at Goldman,” Swiman added. “And then they pulled him out of Malaysia. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The question is whether this is going to be a congressional inquiry.”
For now Goldman and Leissner seem to be distancing themselves…
An email to Leissner at Goldman came back with the message: “I am currently out of the office on personal leave with no access to emails.” Calls to his voice mail were not returned.
Leissner, an 18-year Goldman vet with access to the highest reaches of government in Malaysia, likely made millions from Goldman deals he led that later turned controversial, one person told The Post.
1MDB came under intense criticism in the past for borrowing as much as $11 billion to finance dodgy acquisitions. And more than half was said to have come from bond deals underwritten by Goldman.
Goldman Sachs declined comment.
Leissner is currently on leave in Los Angeles. According to the article Kimora is friendly with the Prime Minister’s wife. But we have to wonder, as this situation gets worse, will she remain ride-or-die for Leissner or find another ballin’ boo and get the hell out of dodge?
