Former Goldman Sachs Banker in 1MDB Advocacy Negotiations with the United States, According to WSJ – Business News

SINGAPORE: A former Goldman Sachs Group banker is in talks with US attorneys to plead guilty to criminal charges stemming from a so-called ploy to steal billions of dollars from a drug fund. Malaysian public investment, reported the Wall Street Journal.

The report says the talks are bringing Goldman's rapid investigation closer, which has raised billions of dollars for 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

He also comes after the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who founded the fund and lost his re-election bid earlier this year, was accused of abuse of power and criminal breach of trust in relation to SRC International, a former unit of the 1MDB

Najib pleaded not guilty to charges and consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to 1MDB.

Tim Leissner, former Goldman partner and president of Southeast Asia has not been charged. He is seeking an agreement with prosecutors that would involve his cooperation with the government's criminal fraud investigation in 1MDB and Goldman, the report said.

A spokeswoman for the US Department of Justice (DoJ) declined to comment. A Leissner lawyer also declined to comment

A spokesman for Goldman Sachs told Reuters: "Since we suspended Mr. Leissner, we have discovered some activities that he deliberately hid from the company. In the last month, citing sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reported that Malaysia was considering asking the Foreign Ministry to report to Goldman Sachs nearly $ 600 million. $ 1 million commissions on bonds raised for 1MDB

Goldman raised nearly $ 6.5 billion in three bond sales between 2012 and 2013 for 1MDB.More than $ 2.5 billion from these bonds obligations were hijacked by 1MDB senior officials, their parents and associates, according to civil lawsuits filed in US court in 2016.

Goldman earned nearly $ 600 million for The three transactions Critics say the fees far exceed the usual 1-2 percent fees that a bank could hope to help sell bonds.

Goldman argued that the non-standard fees related to the additional risks that she took – she bought the unrated bonds while he looked for investors and, in the case of the 2013 agreement which raised $ 2.7 billion, 1MDB wanted the funds to be pressed for a planned investment.

The WSJ said that a potential charge that Leissner could ultimately plead guilty would be a violation of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits the use of bribes to foreign officials to obtain or keep business.

According to the report, prosecutors at the US Attorney's Office in Brooklyn are also investigating whether the alto Goldman has any laws. – Reuters