1MDB trial: Leissner reveals affair with ex-Astro CEO Rohana Rozhan

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1MDB trial: Leissner reveals affair with ex-Astro CEO Rohana Rozhan, buys her silence with US$10mil home

KUALA LUMPUR – Former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner’s testimony in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial in the United States turned salacious after he revealed having an affair with Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd former CEO Rohana Rozhan and the S$10 million (RM31.1 million) home he gifted her.

He alleged that he bought her a US$10 million (RM41.85 million) home in London in 2013 after she had threatened to expose his involvement with 1MDB and that the relationship was from 2003 to 2013, reported Bloomberg.

“Ms Rozhan was very upset that I was ending our relationship to be with my future wife, with Kimora,” Leissner was quoted as telling the jury, referring to his wife Kimora Lee Simmons.

“If I didn’t buy her a house, she would tell the authorities about my involvement in the 1MDB scandal. She was threatening to expose me. At the time, 2013, I was very fearful of that.”

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Probe ex-media CEO for money laundering over US$10mil London property, says lawyer

PETALING JAYA: The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) must probe and commence money laundering proceedings against a former local media CEO, who allegedly had an affair with Tim Leissner and blackmailed him into buying her a US$10 million home in London, a lawyer said.

Rafique Rashid Ali said the AGC could invoke the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act to forfeit the property from the accused if what Leissner said was true.

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Calls intensify to probe into Leissner’s US$10 mil ‘property gift’

KUALA LUMPUR – Authorities should get cracking in establishing the accuracy of Tim Leissner’s allegations of being blackmailed by former lover Datuk Rohana Rozhan into purchasing a US$10 million (RM42 million) London property, especially if it was bought with funds misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).


Despite the former Goldman Sachs banker’s revelations coming from the witness dock of a federal court in Brooklyn, legal minds here were consistent that police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, and especially the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) have enough basis to probe into Leissner’s testimony.

Even if the circumstances behind the supposed US$10 million London property for the former Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd CEO appear as effects of personal fallouts, lawyers said the priority is to establish how Leissner paid for the house.

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MACC probes into Rohana’s alleged involvement in 1MDB scandal

KUALA LUMPUR – Federal graft busters are said to have interviewed former Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd CEO Datuk Rohana Rozhan today over an alleged gift to her in the form of a US$10 million (RM42 million) home in London by former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner.

A report by Malay daily Utusan Malaysia quoted unnamed sources who said a probe into Rohana’s alleged involvement as part of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad web of scandals has been launched by the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

“Rohana’s statement was taken by MACC around 9am this morning at MACC Putrajaya,” the source was quoted as saying in the report.

It was also revealed that money-laundering investigations are being conducted under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.

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MACC freezes Rohana’s assets after Leissner testimony

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has issued an order to freeze the assets and bank accounts of former Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd chief executive Rohana Rozhan following revelations related to 1MDB.

MACC sources were quoted by Astro Awani as saying that the move followed an investigation into the ownership of a house which was allegedly bought using 1MDB money.

He said Rohana was prohibited from doing any transaction involving her bank account in the United Kingdom.

The assets were frozen under the anti-money laundering law after MACC began an investigation into the allegations by former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner who testified in a US court that she had demanded a house worth US$10 million in London.

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Paid the big bucks: Rohana well-heeled, even without Leissner

KUALA LUMPUR – Former Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Rohana Rozhan has been the subject of controversy lately after disgraced former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner alleged she blackmailed him out of a US$10 million (RM41.9 million) home in London.

But even with her former lover purportedly buying her silence on his involvement in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, reports of Rohana’s income show the top executive is indeed deep-pocketed.

This is because previous reports have noted she is one of Malaysia’s highest-paid CEOs in recent memory, making the possibility of her owning property worth millions well within her reach.

In 2019 alone, Rohana made it to the top 10 list of Malaysia’s highest-paid CEOs, raking in a whopping RM13.17 million the year before. This means that Rohana, on average, earned upward of RM1.097 million a month prior to her departure from the media conglomerate in January 2019.

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Will MACC prosecute ex-Astro CEO, asks Guan Eng

PETALING JAYA: DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng has urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to reveal if former Astro CEO Rohana Rozhan will be prosecuted following indications that she withheld information on the 1MDB scandal.

Speaking to FMT, Lim noted that former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner had testified in court that Rohana blackmailed him.

“And now there are reports that she is agreeing to return US$10 million to the authorities,” he said. “I hope this is not the end of the story.”

There have been reports that Rohana was allegedly in a 10-year-relationship with Leissner, a prosecution witness in the US trial of another former Goldman Sachs banker, Roger Ng.

Leissner had testified that he bought Rohana a US$10 million house in London in 2013 after she threatened to expose his involvement in 1MDB.

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