Less was known about the bit-part characters in the long running saga – until Ng’s trial brought new testimonies and evidence to light. Here, This Week in Asia gives you the lowdown on all the latest details that have emerged about this cast of supporting characters.

Roger Ng

The central figure in this round of 1MDB legal drama, Ng “played a critical role in a massive bribery and money laundering scheme to steal billions of dollars from the government of Malaysia and use it to pay bribes to powerful government officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi”, federal prosecutor Alixandra Smith said in her closing argument.

Indeed, the evidence showed that it was Ng who put Low, with his hard-partying reputation, on Goldman Sachs’ radar some time in 2009. The prosecutors’ case, accepted by the jury, was that Ng, Leissner and Low conspired to bribe officials so that Goldman could clinch a trio of bond deals worth some US$6.5 billion for the sovereign wealth fund – set up for Malaysian energy projects and infrastructure but used instead to line the pockets of government officials, bankers and intermediaries to the tune of some US$2.7 billion.

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Those who have followed the case describe Ng as soft-spoken and averse to the limelight, quite unlike Low. Of particular interest to court reporters during the trial was the origins of some US$34.9 million found in the possession of Ng and his wife Lim Hwee Bin.

Lim testified that this was her return on a US$6 million investment she had made in a China-based business of Leissner’s then-wife, Judy Chan – a claim that was disputed.

Tim Leissner

One of the more quotable moments from Ng’s trial came when his former boss Leissner testified that bringing in 1MDB business to Goldman, which reaped US$600 million in fees from the bond sales, “instantaneously made us heroes” within the bank. Under questioning the 52-year-old said he, Ng, Low and others used some of the money they raised for 1MDB to bribe officials to win business for Goldman, and kept some for themselves.

“The bribes and kickbacks made the transactions possible,” he testified.

A lot of the focus in Malaysia, however, lay in the frivolities that surfaced on the days when Leissner took centre stage as the government’s star witness – and as Ng’s lawyers sought to undermine his credibility.

In particular, the details about Leissner’s love life raised eyebrows after Ng’s lawyer Marc Agnifilo accused him of being a “double bigamist” who was “married to two different women at the same time, twice”.

Agnifilo said Leissner had an “illicit” relationship with an 1MDB executive and bought homes “for all the women in his life” – calling him a “mini version” of the billionaire fugitive Low.

Other revelations from Leissner’s testimony included the accusation that Najib, while Malaysia’s prime minister in 2009, had petitioned the then-global head of Goldman, Lloyd Blankfein, for jobs for three of his children. Najib later called this a mischaracterisation of what happened.

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Leissner also testified that former Malaysian central bank chief Zeti Akhtar Aziz – a respected figure across the country’s political divide – had approved an “unprecedented” transfer of US$1 billion worth of 1MDB funds out of the country at a time when capital controls were still in place. Police are now investigating the claim.

His most sensational bombshell, however, came when he revealed his 10-year extramarital affair with Rohana Rozhan, the former CEO of Malaysian satellite television operator Astro.

Leissner testified that he gave Rohana US$10 million in 2013 to buy a house in London after she had threatened to expose his involvement with the 1MDB scandal. She did this, he said, because he wanted to call off their affair to marry American fashion and television personality, Kimora Lee Simmons.

Rohana – one of three well-connected Malaysian women Leissner dated at the same time – is now being investigated by Malaysia’s anti-corruption agency for her involvement in the deal.

Rohana Rozhan

The former CEO of Astro, which had a long-standing monopoly on paid television broadcasting in Malaysia, resigned from her position in June 2018 – less than a month after Najib was ousted from power in that year’s watershed general election.

She left the company “to pursue other goals”, according to a filing with the country’s stock exchange, later denying that it had anything to do with her changing political fortunes. Rohana largely stayed out of the limelight until Leissner’s bombshell revelation about her in a New York court earlier this year.

Since then she has become a household name in Malaysia, with many in the country shocked to learn about her affair with Leissner and willingness to cover up the 1MDB financial scandal for her own personal gain. Local media reported this week that Rohana had agreed to return the US$10 million Leissner gave her, citing a Malaysian anti-corruption source.

Kimora Lee Simmons

The American model, reality television personality and ex-wife of rap mogul Russell Simmons married Leissner in 2014. The pair are now separated, though not legally divorced.

Under cross examination during Ng’s trial, Leissner detailed how he had used a Gmail account bearing his then-wife Chan’s name to try to convince Simmons that the two were no longer married. He said he went on to pose as Chan “for years” to converse with Simmons about family holidays, among other topics.

Leissner admitted in court to faking divorce documents so that he could marry Simmons in 2014 while still married to Chan. He said he had done the same thing previously so that he could prove to Chan that he was divorced from an earlier wife, whose name was not disclosed.

Through Leissner, Simmons met Rosmah Mansor – frequently painted as a domineering force behind the throne of Najib, her politically powerful husband.

Rosmah Mansor

One of the stand-out pieces of evidence shown to jurors during Ng’s trial as proof of the treasures allegedly bought with looted 1MDB funds was the invoice for an infamous US$23 million pink diamond necklace made by New York jeweller Lorraine Schwartz for Rosmah Mansor.

While the wife of Malaysia’s former prime minister has vehemently denied ever receiving such an item, Schwartz said in a statement to the court that she had personally delivered the necklace to Rosmah in 2014 while she was staying aboard a yacht with Jho Low off the coast of Monaco.

Her records showed that Rosmah bought an additional US$1.3 million of jewellery from her that year, Schwartz said.

In light of the revelations, the self-styled First Lady of Malaysia again denied any knowledge of the elusive necklace, which has nonetheless become symbolic of her and her husband’s excesses for many Malaysians.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg, Reuters