Goldman Sachs reaches deal with Malaysia over sovereign wealth fund ‘fraud’

Former Malaysia prime minister Najib Razak is accused of plundering state assets and two former Goldman Sachs bankers have been charged.

Published Jul 24, 2020

Construction workers chat in front of a billboard for state investment fund 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) at the fund’s flagship Tun Razak Exchange development in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Joshua Paul/AP)

Goldman Sachs has reached a 3.9 billion US dollar settlement with Malaysia over the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund that was used to launder money.

Malaysian and US prosecutors had alleged that bond sales organised by Goldman Sachs for 1MDB provided one of the means for associates of former Malaysian leader Najib Razak to steal billions over several years from a fund that was ostensibly set up to accelerate Malaysia’s economic development.

Mr Najib was arrested as part of the scandal.

The logo for Goldman Sachs appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (Richard Drew/AP)

Two former Goldman Sachs bankers have been charged for their alleged role in helping 1MDB launder money.

Goldman on Friday said it had agreed to pay the government of Malaysia 2.5 billion US dollars and to guarantee that it gets at least 1.4 billion US dollars in proceeds from assets that have since been seized around the globe.