KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 — Datuk Tawfiq Ayman has denied accepting bribes from former employees of Goldman Sachs as reported in the ongoing US corruption trial of Malaysian former banker Roger Ng that is linked to the 1MDB financial scandal.
Tawfiq, the husband of former Bank Negara Malaysia governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz, also told news portal Malaysiakini that he does not know Ng, who was formerly Goldman’s Malaysian head of investment banking, or Tim Leissner, another former senior executive with the US investment.
Leissner implicated Tawfiq while testifying against Ng in the US federal court earlier this week.
“I do not know Tim Leissner or Roger Ng and neither have I met, nor have ever communicated with either of them.
“I wish to categorically state that throughout my entire life, I have never received any bribes from anyone.
“In view of the ongoing proceedings in New York, I have been advised not to make any further comments as it may amount to sub judice,” Tawfiq told Malaysiakini in a report published today.
Tawfiq also said that he will be seeking legal advice for the next course of action in this matter.
Malaysiakini reported Tawfiq’s remarks came in a statement from the law firm Messrs Jagjit Ariff & Co, which was verified by the firm’s partner Wan Muhd Ariff Ameer.
The news portal had yesterday cited parts of Leissner’s US court transcript, which mentioned bribery involving a former Bank Negara governor’s husband.
According to various news reports, Leissner said this in his testimony when questioned by US prosecutors about his dealings with the PetroSaudi-1MDB joint venture project.
Leisnner reportedly told the US court that he was informed by Ng — his Goldman subordinate back then — that 1MDB had invested US$1 billion (RM4 billion) into the joint venture.
“You have to understand in 2009 Malaysia still had capital controls in place, which would require an investment of that size to be approved by Bank Negara in terms of the money leaving the country.
“They would have to approve a billion dollars leaving Malaysia basically. And what Roger reported back to me was that he had heard that the money had left overnight, the country.
“A billion dollars was wired overnight to Malaysia to the joint venture and it had been done because the husband of the then governor Zeti at Bank Negara had received a bribe to make that happen,” Leissner was quoted saying.
“So, overnight that money was transferred, which was unprecedented at that time. No approval was obtained that quickly with Bank Negara,” he added.
Malaysiakini said the US transcript of the testimony on February 22 showed Leissner had twice mentioned Zeti, but not Tawfiq.
Malaysia’s Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) announced in November last year that Singapore had repatriated to Malaysia US$15.4 million in 1MDB-linked funds that involved a company co-owned by Tawfiq.
The MACC also cited a news report from The Edge saying that the transfers totalling US$16.22 million took place in 2008 and 2009 and were flagged to Bank Negara in 2015 and 2016 when Singapore began investigating 1MDB linked transfers.
Ng is charged in the US court with bribery and money laundering linked to funds misappropriated from 1MDB.
In 2018, Leissner pleaded guilty to similar charges and was forced to forfeit US$44 million.
In 2009, 1MDB entered a deal with PetroSaudi to explore oil.
US authorities believe that US$700 million of 1MDB’s US$1 billion fund injection went into Good Star Ltd, a company controlled by Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low.
In response to Leissner’s testimony, Bank Negara today said that all investments abroad by resident entities are subject to the requirements under the Exchange Control Act (ECA) 1953 that was in force prior to 2013, which has since been replaced by the Financial Services Act (FSA) 2013.
