1MDB scandal: former Goldman Sachs banker banned by Singapore

Singapore banned former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker Tim Leissner from the securities industry for 10 years and said it plans to issue similar orders against three others caught up in the scandal surrounding 1Malaysia Development Bhd. Leissner, who left Goldman Sachs in February 2016, was sanctioned because he issued an unauthorized letter to a financial institution and made false statements on behalf of the U.S. bank without its knowledge, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said in a statement Monday. The central bank had signaled its intention to ban Leissner last year.

"MAS will not tolerate conduct by any finance professional that threatens to undermine trust and confidence in Singapore's financial system. MAS will not hesitate to bar such individuals from carrying out regulated activities in the financial industry," Ong Chong Tee, deputy managing director of financial supervision at MAS said in a statement.

Under the order, Leissner is prohibited for 10 years from performing any regulated activity under the Securities and Futures Act and taking part, directly or indirectly, in the management of any capital market services firm in Singapore.

MAS also said on Monday that it had served notice of its intention to issue prohibition orders against Jens Fred Sturzenegger, former Singapore branch manager of Falcon Private Bank, and Yak Yew Chee and Yvonne Seah Yew Foong, former employees of BSI Bank, who were convicted by Singapore courts for their involvement in 1MDB-related breaches.

Yak's lawyer Lee Teck Leng said his client respected MAS's decision. There was no immediate response from Seah's lawyer, while Sturzenegger's lawyer declined to comment.

Another individual, Yeo Jiawei, also from BSI, has already been found guilty of witness tampering and is now serving this 30-month jail term. When the trial of Yeo was going on last year, prosecutors had then said that an additional seven charges of money laundering will be heard in April.