A former Goldman Sachs banker has been sentenced to two years in US federal prison for his role in a US$4.5 billion scheme to ransack a Malaysian state investment fund.

Tim Leissner, at his sentencing in Brooklyn federal court on Thursday, apologised to the people of Malaysia, who he called the “real victims” of the scheme.

“The funds raised more than a decade ago could have profoundly benefited the nation and its citizens,” he said in a statement read in court and provided by his lawyers.

“Instead, due to my greed – and the greed of those involved alongside me – they were misappropriated.”

Prosecutors said Leissner and other Goldman Sachs bankers helped the Malaysian investment fund known as 1MBD, or the 1Malaysia Development Berhad state fund, raise US$6.5 billion through bond sales.

But they say more than US$4.5 billion of the funds were stolen and laundered through bribes and kickbacks.

The spoils bankrolled extravagant purchases, from wild parties to lavish spending on jewels, art, a superyacht and luxury real estate, prosecutors have said. They also helped finance the 2013 Martin Scorsese film “The Wolf of Wall Street” that starred Leonardo DiCaprio.

The scandal led to the fall of Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak’s government in 2018.

Najib was later convicted by a Malaysian court of abuse of power and other crimes related to the scandal and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Leissner had pleaded guilty in 2018 to bribing government officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi.

He served as a key government witness in the trial of Roger Ng, a fellow former Goldman Sachs banker who was sentenced in 2023 to 10 years in federal prison. (AP)