Talks to avoid guilty plea in 1MDB fraud.
- Lower fine than US$2 billion
- Avoid guilty plea to a felony charge over its scheme to loot billions from 1MDB
Global banking giant Goldman Sachs is attempting to get federal prosecutors to lighten charges made against it for its role in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) financial scandal, the New York Times (NYT) reported yesterday.
According to three people briefed on the matter, the daily reported that lawyers for the bank have asked US Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen to review demands made by federal prosecutors that it pay more than US$2 billion (RM8.56 billion) in fines and plead guilty to a felony charge.
On a request to speak anonymously, the sources said Goldman has sought to pay a lower fine and avoid a guilty plea, the daily wrote.
This type of request, understood to have been made several weeks ago, is not deemed as unusual for a high-profile corporate investigation and often occurs in the final stage of settlement talks, the report added.
NYT noted too that it has been a point of pride for Goldman that it has never resorted to admitting guilt in a federal investigation, not to mention that the scandal has already been a black eye for the bank.
The bank helped raise US$6.5 billion for 1MDB through the sale of guaranteed notes and bonds.
Reporting further, the daily wrote that authorities in the United States and Malaysia indicated that more than US$2.7 billion was diverted from the fund, known as 1MDB, in a scheme that involved financier Jho Low, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, and other powerful figures.
Reportedly, the investment fund was meant to finance projects for the benefit of the people of Malaysia, but some of the cash allegedly went to purchases of luxury apartments, yachts, paintings and even finance the movie The Wolf of Wall Street.
Although negotiations have been delayed due to the Covid-19 health crisis, the people said a resolution for the criminal investigation is expected by early September, which has been led by prosecutors in Brooklyn and with the money laundering and kleptocracy group in Washington.
Should a settlement be reached, the report said that federal prosecutors will not be done with the 1MDB matter.
Former Goldman executive Tim Leissner, who pleaded guilty in August 2018, was scheduled for sentencing this month, but that has been moved to January.
Apart from Leissner, former Goldman banker Roger Ng, who has also been charged by US prosecutors, is set to go on trial in a Brooklyn federal court early next year.
Goldman Sachs has consistently tried to distance itself from the scandal, saying Leissner and Ng worked to conceal their criminal activities from bank management.
In January, it was reported that the bank set aside US$1.1 billion (RM4.7 billion) in legal costs, with most of the sum expected to go towards 1MDB settlements.