Goldman Sachs has come to an agreement with Malaysia to end Malaysia’s criminal investigation of Goldman and several of its employees’ role in the 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Bhd) scam, under which the bank will pay $2.5 billion directly to Malaysia and perhaps up to $1.4 billion in proceeds from assets of 1MDB. Although this sounds like an enormous sum, Goldman is getting off easy. In total, an estimated $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB by a scam involving former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, the Saudis (who placed $681 million in one of Najib’s personal accounts) and others. Goldman — well aware of the amount of fraud it routinely commits — had $3 billion set aside for legal fees.
The U.S. FBI is continuing its own investigation, and may fine Goldman another $2 billion, and may also send some people to jail. The reported mastermind of the operation, Jho Low, spent unknown millions in wild Las Vegas parties, while funding the film “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Other criminal cases are going on in Singapore.
