by Ganesh Sahathevan
The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (Goldman Sachs or the Company), a global financial institution headquartered in New York, New York, and Goldman Sachs (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. (GS Malaysia), its Malaysian subsidiary, have admitted to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in connection with a scheme to pay over $1 billion in bribes to Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials to obtain lucrative business for Goldman Sachs, including its role in underwriting approximately $6.5 billion in three bond deals for 1Malaysia Development Bhd. (1MDB), for which the bank earned hundreds of millions in fees. Goldman Sachs will pay more than $2.9 billion as part of a coordinated resolution with criminal and civil authorities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and elsewhere.
Under the terms of the agreements, Goldman will pay a criminal penalty and disgorgement of over $2.9 billion. Goldman also has reached separate parallel resolutions with foreign authorities in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia, and elsewhere, along with domestic authorities in the United States. The department will credit over $1.6 billion in payments with respect to those resolutions.
Goldman Sachs settlement with Malaysian government may be illegal under US,Malaysian laws - Malaysian court ruled that Goldman was " discharged amounting to acquittal"- Malaysia does not have a plea bargain regime, so no basis for Goldman to make any payment to the Malaysian Government
by Ganesh Sahathevan
Reuters and others reported in September 2020:
“Goldman Sachs International Ltd, Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC and Goldman Sachs (Singapore) are therefore discharged amounting to an acquittal from all four charges made against them,” Bernama quoted High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan as saying as he granted prosecutors the request.
The report concerned an apparent settlement Goldman Sachs had negotiated with the Government Of Malaysia after Malaysian authorities charged Goldman entities for their part in the 1MDB theft.
As Reuters put it:
Malaysian prosecutors on Friday withdrew criminal charges against three Goldman Sachs units accused of misleading investors over $6.5 billion in bond sales they helped organise for a state fund, the Bernama state news agency reported.
The move comes after Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $3.9 billion to Malaysia to settle a probe into its alleged role in the scandal involving the fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), which counts former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak as one of its co-founders.
However, Malaysia, unlike say the US, does not have a plea bargain regime. A discharge amounting to an acquittal means the end of matters. There is therefore no basis for the payment of anything, to anyone, not even the Government Of Malaysia.
The payment of any monies to bring any matter to an end, in this case prosecutors dropping charges against 1MDB, could therefore, be construed as a bribe, at least under the laws of the United States, and quite likely Malaysia.
END
Malaysia drops criminal charges against Goldman Sachs over 1MDB bond sales - state media
By Reuters Staff
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian prosecutors on Friday withdrew criminal charges against three Goldman Sachs units accused of misleading investors over $6.5 billion in bond sales they helped organise for a state fund, the Bernama state news agency reported.
The move comes after Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $3.9 billion to Malaysia to settle a probe into its alleged role in the scandal involving the fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), which counts former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak as one of its co-founders.
The U.S. Department of Justice estimates $4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB between 2009 and 2014, including some of the funds that Goldman Sachs helped raise.
The units - based in London, Hong Kong and Singapore - had pleaded not guilty in February and the bank has consistently denied wrongdoing.
“Goldman Sachs International Ltd, Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC and Goldman Sachs (Singapore) are therefore discharged amounting to an acquittal from all four charges made against them,” Bernama quoted High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan as saying as he granted prosecutors the request.
Lawyers for Goldman Sachs and the prosecution could not be immediately reached for comment.
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As part of its deal with Malaysia, Goldman has paid $2.5 billion in cash and guaranteed the return of $1.4 billion in 1MDB assets seized around the world.
At least six countries including Switzerland and Singapore have opened money laundering and graft probes into 1MDB in a scandal that implicated Najib and high-level officials of the fund.
In July, Najib was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to 12 years in prison in the first of several trials he faces over 1MDB. Najib has maintained that he is innocent.
Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Edwina Gibbs
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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