KUALA LUMPUR – A criminal charge of bribery conspiracy involving 1Malaysia Development Bhd has been dropped against Goldman Sachs after the Wall Street Bank paid a US$2.9 billion (RM12.74 billion) fine and fulfilled other obligations.
A federal court in Brooklyn dismissed the charge against Goldman Sachs yesterday following the bank’s completion of a three-year deferred prosecution agreement in October.
Reuters reports that Goldman Sachs did not oppose the dropping of the criminal charge.
The bank had helped raise US$6.5 billion of bonds for 1MDB and collected US$600 million in fees in a scandal where US$4.5 billion was siphoned away.
Two former Goldman Sachs bankers were charged over the matter, one of them Malaysian Roger Ng who was convicted by a Brooklyn court and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Last October, he was brought back to Malaysia to assist in other probes here.
The other Goldman banker, Tim Leissner who led the banks Southeast Asia business, pleaded guilty and was a witness in Ng’s trial.
He has not yet been sentenced. – May 7, 2024