Malaysian and U.S. authorities estimated $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB in an elaborate scheme that spanned the globe and implicated high-level officials in the fund, former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Goldman executives and others.
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.
Goldman helped sell $6.5 billion of bonds for 1MDB, which former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib set up with the help of Low to promote economic development.
Leissner became a U.S. government witness in the case after his arrest in 2018.
Ng has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to launder money and violate an anti-bribery law.
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 in 2020 paid a record $2.9 billion fine in the United States 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, sentencing him to 12 years in prison. The sentence was later halved by a pardons board chaired by Malaysia's former king.
The former premier is currently in prison and is pursuing a legal bid to compel authorities to entitle him to serve the remainder of his sentence at home.
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