US Counsel men accused a former Goldman Sachs (GS.N) banker for seeking Millions of dollars by laundering money, looted from Malaysia’s 1MDB sovereign Wealth Fund, at the trial that could shed light on the bank’s response to corruption.
Former head of investment banking in Malaysia, Roger Ng, Goldman is booked for conspiring to launder money and violate an anti-bribery law.
Brent Wible, a lawyer at U.S. Department of Justice, said in an opening statement that the defendant saw an opportunity for cheating and he grabbed it with both his hands. The scandal was for $6.5 Billion in bonds that Goldman had helped 1MDB, to launch by the former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to increase the economic growth from 2009 to 2014.
U.S. prosecutors say Goldman earned $600 Million from the deals he made but around $4.5 Billion of the funds raised was knocked off.
In 2020, the bank had to pay $2.3 Billion fine, returning the $600 Million gained from all the ill activities and agreed for Malaysian Subsidiary so as to plead guilty in U.S. court as part of the deal, known as a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA).
Wible said Ng helped two of his co-conspirators that was his former boss, Timothy Leissner, and Malaysian intermediary Jho Low, to launder funds stolen from 1MDB. He used some of the money to bribe officials in the Southeast Asian countries to win business for Goldman.
Leissner, a former partner for Goldman Sachs in Asia, in 2018 pleaded guilty in conspiracy for laundering money, and to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), by helping to pay $1.6 Billion in bribes. He is relieved for testifying as a government witness against NG.
Wible said, “Leissner, who has not sentenced, will testify against NG as part of a Cooperation Agreement along with prosecutors, which will grant him a lighter punishment.” His testimony will be backed up with other evidences.
Defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo countered NG stating he had no role in the scheme inflicted by Low and Leissner. NG even warned The Goldman Management for not trusting Low. The funds originally belonged to NG’s wife and were gained from a business venture she had with Leissner’s ex-wife.
Agnifilo’s focus was on his opening statement which was to underminne Leissner, who is expected to testify for the government.
Low, who was charged alongside NG in 2018, by the U.S. or Malaysian authorities. Malaysia said he is in China, but Beijing denies. Goldman Sachs spent years being investigated by regulators across the world, including UK, US, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
In 2020, Goldman Sach reached $3.9 Billion settlement for its role in the multi-billion-dollar scam.
It also had to pay $3 Billion to authorities in four different countries to end the investigation. The same year, Njaib Nazak was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment on being guilty of abusing his power, breaching public interests and laundering money.
