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“Over a period of five years, Goldman Sachs participated in a vast international corruption scheme, conspiring to use more than $ 1.6 billion in bribes. to various high-level government officials in various countries so that the company could obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in fees, all to the detriment of the people of Malaysia and the reputations of US financial institutions operating abroad. ” [Acting U.S. Attorney Seth D. DuCharme of the Eastern District of New York].
The timing said it all, as the Justice Department’s deferred prosecution agreement with America’s most powerful bank was canceled hours before the last key presidential debate. It was an obvious ploy to hide news stories that would otherwise have dominated world headlines.
To escape the dock, the bank was forced to plead criminally guilty for its Malaysian subsidiary, admit to wrongdoing and pay huge fines around the world. America’s most arrogant bankers see it as an unprecedented humiliation.
The fines to the Department of Justice (DOJ) amounted to $ 2.9 billion. Hong Kong regulators simultaneously announced that Goldman will pay them $ 350 million in fines, while the UK agreed to $ 126 million in fines and Singapore $ 122 million. All of this is in addition to fines agreed with the Malaysian government totaling $ 3.9 billion in August.
DOJ representatives confirmed that it is the largest fine ever paid in connection with a case of corrupt practices abroad and cited an initial lack of cooperation on the part of the bank, which “significantly delayed the production of relevant evidence, including recorded phone calls ”.
“We have to recognize where our firm fell short … we did not adequately address red flags … as effectively as we should have.” responded Chief Executive Officer David Soloman, who was personally involved in authorizing the deals that the Sarawak Report first called out for being patently suspicious in 2013 but ignored for years by the bank.
Technically, as stated in the press release of the Department of Justice, the bank has admitted “to conspire to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in connection with a plan to pay more than $ 1 billion in bribes to Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials to obtain lucrative business ” .
That sum refers to the massive bribes received by Najib and the heads of the IPIC sovereign wealth fund – just $ 160 million was used to pay for the purchase of the Topaz superyacht acquired by Royal Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi.
So widely anticipated, the powerful institution has escaped criminal convictions as have its bosses, plus former Southeast Asian director Tim Leissner, a relatively humble figure, who has pleaded guilty and awaits conviction, and his colleague Roger Ng, director. investment banking officer of GS Malaysia, which was extradited to the United States and is due to be tried in March.
However, Justice Department prosecutors have drawn their weight by enforcing unprecedented and humiliating confessions from so-called ‘Masters of the Universe’ and by keeping a ‘deferred criminal trial’ over their heads for conspiracy to commit bribes.
Goldman Sachs entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the department in connection with criminal information filed today in the Eastern District of New York that charges the Company with conspiring to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. GS Malaysia pleaded guilty in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York to one count of criminal information charging him with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA.
It’s a confession that would once have been considered unheard of and represents a massive blow to the bank’s reputation, effectively clipping its wings after years of being considered untouchable and all-powerful. The Justice Department, which has doggedly tracked the lost billions of 1MDB since 2015, did nothing:
“Goldman Sachs today accepted responsibility for its role in a conspiracy to bribe high-ranking foreign officials to obtain lucrative subscriptions and other business related to 1MDB,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Department’s Criminal Division. of Justice. “Today’s resolution, which requires Goldman Sachs to admit wrongdoing and pay nearly $ 3 billion in fines, fines, and restitution, holds the bank accountable for this criminal scheme and demonstrates the department’s continued commitment to fighting corruption and protecting the system. American financier.” [DOJ press release].
The statement emphasizes the mission statement established by the joint US investigation team spearheaded by former AG Lorreta Lynch and FBI Director Andy McCabe in launching their 1MDB prosecutions when they declared the threat that financial crimes Global data facilitated by players like Goldman Sachs not only harm victims like Malaysia, but also threaten the integrity of the United States and other advanced economies.
Just last week, former Republican National Committee Chairman Elliot Broidy pleaded guilty to receiving payments of millions of dollars in undeclared illegal lobbying fees from Jho Low to attempt to derail this investigation by influencing important figures.
Broidy had agreed to a $ 75 million success fee if the case was dropped and had also embarked on a separate proposed contract with the Najib government that promised tens of millions a year for the provision of ‘cyber security’. He is just one of a handful of top US officials and famous figures who have been affected by the scandal.
“Greed eventually imposes an immense cost on society, and rampant corrupt behavior erodes trust in public institutions and government entities alike. This case represents the largest fine ever paid to US authorities in an FCPA case, “said William F. Sweeney Jr., of the local FBI office in New York.
The DOJ confirmed in its announcement that Jho Low, with the help of Tim Leissner and Roger Ng, misappropriated more than $ 2.7 billion of the $ 6.5 raised by Goldman Sachs in three bond offerings for 1MDB of those who paid. “Over $ 1.6 Billion in Bribes to Malaysian Officials, 1MDB, IPIC and Aabar.”
Today’s guilty pleas show that the law applies to everyone, including big investment banks like Goldman Sachs.
added Ryan L. Korner of the IRS’s Los Angeles Field Office of Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). However, there have been mixed benefits for Malaysia due to its ongoing ongoing betrayal by the country’s own power mongers.
The former prime minister can also be convicted of his guilt in the matter, however, he remains at large, votes in Parliament and supports an illegal minority government.
[More to follow on this case….]
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