Malaysia filed charges on Monday against Goldman Sachs and two of the banking giant's former employees in relation to a corruption and money laundering investigation into the country's strategic development company, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Malaysia's Attorney General Tommy Thomas revealed that the charges were raised under the domestic criminal laws against the bank as well as its former employees Tim Leissner and Roger Ng. Charges were also filed against former 1MDB employee Jasmine Loo and financier Jho Low. "The charges arise from the commission and abetment of false or misleading statements by all the accused in order to dishonestly misappropriate $2.7bn from the proceeds of three bonds issued by the subsidiaries of 1MDB, which were arranged and underwritten by Goldman Sachs," Thomas stated.
1MDB is already under investigation in at least six countries over its suspicious money transactions and alleged money laundering, while the US Department of Justice claimed that at least $3.5 billion was stolen from Malaysia's state fund.
