The Malaysia Scandal Is Starting to Look Dire for Goldman Sachs
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December 28, 2018 at 10:37 PM - Views: 33 #6018
Just before Christmas, Malaysian authorities filed criminal charges against Goldman, seeking a stunning $7.5 billion in reparations for the bank’s role in the scandal. Singapore authorities also announced they were expanding their own 1MDB probe to include Goldman.
In the 1MDB scheme, actors tied to former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak allegedly siphoned mountains of cash out of a state investment fund. The misrouted money went to lavish parties with celebrity guests like Alicia Keys, a $35 million jet, works by Monet and Van Gogh, property in New York, Los Angeles and London, and (ironically) the funding of the movie The Wolf of Wall Street.
The cash for this mother of all bacchanals originally came from bonds issued by Goldman, which earned a whopping $600 million from the Malaysians. The bank charged prices for its bond issuance that analysts believe were suspiciously high – like a massage price that suggests you’re probably getting more than a massage.
Najib lost re-election in May, ending a 61-year reign for his party. National anger over 1MDB was a major reason for his downfall. The prime minister was allegedly central to the scam, which involved luring investors to national development projects that mostly never took place.
Jesus: Hey, Dad? God: Yes, Son? Jesus: Western civilization followed me home. Can I keep it? God: Certainly not! And put it down this minute--you don't know where it's been! Tom Robbins in Another Roadside Attraction
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December 28, 2018 at 11:46 PM #6028
Singapore to Expand 1MDB Criminal Probe to Include Goldman
Singapore has expanded a criminal probe into fund flows linked to scandal-plagued 1MDB to include Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which helped raise money for the entity, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Police in the city-state had been examining Goldman’s relationship with the Malaysian state investment company since at least late 2017, but until recently the firm’s local unit itself wasn’t a focus of any investigation, said the people, asking not to be named discussing sensitive information. Authorities are trying to determine whether some of the roughly $600 million in fees from the three bond deals Goldman arranged for 1MDB from 2012 to 2013 flowed to the Singapore subsidiary, they said.
Singapore’s widened probe opens a potential new battle front for Goldman less than a week after Malaysia filed the first criminal charges against the firm over a relationship that spawned one of the biggest scandals in its history. Singapore is coordinating closely with the U.S. Justice Department, which is also investigating Goldman and has filed criminal charges against two former senior bankers at the firm, the people said.
Singapore has been clamping down on firms and individuals embroiled in the 1MDB scandal, revoking the licenses of two Swiss private banks and jailing several people, but this is its first criminal investigation of a company in the matter.
If you cannot dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit WC Fields
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December 28, 2018 at 11:57 PM #6031
Goldman Sachs Should Stop Pleading Innocence And Start Signing Cheques
Sarawak Report has long argued that the narrative that banks, together with Najib and all his cohorts, were somehow ‘fooled’ by Jho Low would not wash. Despite years of seemingly proving they could, Goldman Sachs and others cannot in this case expect to have their cake and eat it.
They took the money, they knew they took the money and they cannot but have known they ought not to have taken the money.
Everyone can see it, which is why since the high point just before the May election shares in this bank have fallen from USD 273 to USD 160 this weekend – a staggering 41%!
Goldman Sachs ended the pre-holiday week not just facing an escalated demand from Malaysia’s Attorney General for a repayment of $7.5 billion in damages over those 1MDB bonds plus the escalation of criminal probes, this time emanating from Singapore, it was also facing a newly minted class action from shareholders furious that failures of basic due dilligence (or honest practice, take your pick) had almost halved the value of their investment, owing to that plunging share price.
The comments on this site are interesting (people are angry, some are over the top)
If you cannot dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit WC Fields
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December 29, 2018 at 11:43 AM #6121
If Goldman-Sachs did this to Malaysia and probably Singapore, who else did they do it to? I hope the Malaysians hang ’em.
It is better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.--Eugene Debs
Show me a man that gets rich by being a politician, and I'll show you a crook.--Harry Truman
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