Goldman Sachs has found themselves on the receiving end of criminal charges filed against three of the bank’s subsidiaries, courtesy of the Malaysian government, over their role in raising bonds in the 1MDB financial scandal.
While the bank’s former employees have faced criminal charges, and the bank levied with eye-watering fines in several countries, this will be the first time that a country takes on the bank itself.
Breaking News: Malaysia flies criminal charges against units of Goldman Sachs over false statements #1mdb #Goldman
— Haslinda Amin (@haslindatv) December 17, 2018
Local financial news outlet The Edge reports that Goldman Sachs International (UK) bears the brunt of the rap sheet over their sale of three bonds between 2012 and 2013. Two other offices, Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte, and Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC, will also be charged with colluding with Goldman International by omitting essential information, as well as publishing a misleading statement.
In case you were keeping track, Goldman managed to rake in about US$600 million in fees in bond sales related to 1MDB, which is the kind of number that even other investment bankers say was alarmingly generous.
Also slapped with charges courtesy of the Malaysian government were notorious fugitive financier, Jho Low, and 1MDB’s former general counsel, Jasmine Loo Ai Swan – both who have been charged in absentia. Former Goldman banker, Tim Leissner, aka Mr Kimora Lee, has also been charged, and plead guilty in a US court to charges of bribing Malaysian government officials, and misappropriating funds. His sentence has yet to be meted out.
Last week, Malaysia’s anti-graft agency, Malaysian Anti-Corrpution Commission charged both former Prime Minsiter, Najib Razak, and former 1MDB CEO, Arul Kanda, with official report tampering over investigations into the sovereign wealth fund. Najib continues to deny any wrongdoing in the matter, which has seen him collect a litany of charges over.
You can catch the nitty gritty details via The Edge at the jump.
