SEX sells, especially here in Malaysia. News of adultery and other scandalous behaviour seem to capture the imagination of Malaysians like no other topic.
This follows the sensational testimony of disgraced ex-Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner who has alleged that he was blackmailed into buying a London property worth US$10 mil using the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) funds for his jilted lover.
The woman (allegedly) scorned is Datuk Rohana Rohzan, the former CEO of Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd who Leissner claims was upset with him for leaving her to marry model Kimora Lee Simmons.
In Leissner’s words, that Rohana threatened to expose his involvement in 1MDB if he did not succumb to her demands for a luxury London address.
Leissner, the former chief of Goldman Sachs’ Southeast Asia operation, is the prosecution’s star witness in the criminal trial involving former Goldman Sachs colleague and Malaysian Roger Ng. Leissner had pleaded guilty in 2018 to a count of conspiracy to violate US anti-bribery laws and to conspiring to launder money.
Leissner’s sensational claims mean that the story has been trending and that there are plenty of memes, jokes and cartoons poking fun at the expense of the (now) high profile (ex-) couple.
One particular property developer seems to see the funny side of the affair with its tongue-in-cheek advert. In it, the HCK Capital Group draws attention to its own development projects by stating that one does not need to spend US$10 mil to own a luxury property.
All this tittle tattle may have got tongues wagging and it is certainly not wrong for businesses to poke fun at the scenario. After all, what better way to capture the zeitgeist in Malaysia than with a clichéd sex scandal? – March 2, 2022
