9 August 2019
Malaysia filed criminal charges against 17 current and former directors at subsidiaries of Goldman Sachs Group Inc over the multi-billion-dollar corruption probe at state fund 1MDB, the Attorney General Tommy Thomas said on Friday.
Goldman Sachs has been under scrutiny for its role in helping raise funds through bond offerings for 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
Thomas said individuals who have been charged include Richard Gnodde, CEO of Goldman Sachs International, and Michael Sherwood, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs Group Inc and co-chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs international. He said the 17 people in the most recent filings were charged under the Malaysian Capital Markets and Services Act for conniving to commit massive fraud.
Last year, Malaysia filed criminal charges against Goldman Sachs and two of the US bank’s former employees in connection with 1MDB. Tim Leissner, a former partner of Goldman Sachs in Asia, pleaded guilty last August to conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and agreed to forfeit $43.7 million.
Goldman Sachs said that certain members of the former Malaysian government and 1MDB lied to the bank, outside counsel and others about the use of transaction proceeds.
The US Department of Justice is investigating the bank for its role as underwriter and arranger of the bond offer. The US Justice Department has said that an estimated $4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB by fund officials and their associates between 2009 and 2014.
trtworld.com reported
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