In October 2020, the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (Goldman Sachs) and its Malaysian subsidiary GS Malaysia pleaded guilty to participating in a corruption scheme to pay over $ 1 billion in bribes to high- ranking government officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi to obtain business, including underwriting three bond deals worth $ 6.5 billion on behalf of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), a Malaysian state- owned and controlled investment fund. Goldman Sachs entered into a deferred prosecution agreement in the United States and reached separate parallel civil or criminal resolutions with other authorities, including in Malaysia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It agreed to pay over $ 2.9 billion in total sanctions. In August 2018, a former manager of Goldman Sachs, pleaded guilty to participating in the scheme. As part of this resolution, he agreed to forfeit $ 43 million and stock shares valued at over $ 200 million. In April 2022, another former manager of Goldman Sachs was convicted at trial for his role in the bribery and money laundering scheme. In March 2023, he was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment.
Source: DOJ Press release (22 October 2020), https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/goldman-sachs-resolves-foreign-bribery-case-and-agrees-pay-over-29-billion; DOJ Press release (8 April 2022), https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/former-goldman-sachs-investment-banker-convicted-massive-bribery-and-money-laundering; DOJ Press release (9 March 2023), https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-goldman-sachs-investment-banker-sentenced-27b-bribery-and-money-laundering-scheme
