1MDB: Goldman Sachs trying to get out of pleading guilty, NYT reports

PETALING JAYA: Goldman Sachs is attempting to get US federal prosecutors to ease up on the bank's role in the 1MDB scandal, according to a report by the New York Times.

The report stated that lawyers for Goldman Sachs have asked US Deputy Attorney-General Jeffery Rosen to review demands by certain federal prosecutors that Goldman Sachs pay more than US$2bil (RM8.5bil) in fines and plead guilty to a charge.

The bank is also seeking to pay lower fines and avoid a guilty plea, according to the report, which quoted sources as speaking on the condition of anonymity as talks are currently ongoing.

"The request, which was made several weeks ago, is not unusual for a high-profile corporate investigation and often comes in the final stage of settlement talks.

"But, it has been a point of pride for Goldman that it has never had to admit guilt in a federal investigation, and the scandal has already been a black eye for the bank," the report said.

At the same time, it reported that negotiations over the matter were delayed at times due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, but a resolution is expected to be achieved by early September.

A spokesperson from Goldman Sachs, Jake Siewert, said the bank was "continuing to engage with all the relevant authorities".

According to the US Justice Department, Goldman Sachs earned USD$600mil (RM2.56bil) in fees for raising US$6bil (RM25.6bil) for 1MDB.

At present, two former Goldman Sachs executives have been charged in the US, where Tim Leissner already pleaded guilty and is cooperating.

Leissner had said that he and others at Goldman Sachs conspired to circumvent the bank's internal control to work with fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, or known as Jho Low, to bribe Malaysian officials in order to secure the lucrative bond work for the bank.

Leissner, who's married to supermodel Kimora Lee Simmons, had profited from the matter and has agreed to forfeit up to US$43.7mil (RM187mil).

Low has since been charged in absentia while former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak was charged in Malaysia.

A verdict on Najib's corruption trial could come by July.

The report said that prosecutors in the US began investigating the case in 2015, but it became one of the top Wall Street enforcement matters during President Donald Trump's administration.

US watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, recently said it wanted to know more about the interest of Trump's appointee in the case.

It claimed that US Attorney General William P. Barr and Assistant Attorney-General Brian Benczkowski, who both previously worked at Kirkland & Ellies, one of the firms representing Goldman Sachs, had obtained ethics waivers that allowed them to participate in the 1MDB probe.

"This is a hugely significant case and we are trying to figure out if we need to be concerned whether there are conflicts of interest on the part of leading Department of Justice officials," Noah Bookbinder, the organisation's executive director, was quoted as saying.

Last February, the group sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the Justice Department seeking copies of emails and records documenting either the duo's involvement in the 1MDB investigation.

However, the Justice Department, which has not produced any documents, declined to comment.

Last June, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said the Malaysian government would not be willing to accept a compensation of US$3bil (RM12.8bil) in a settlement over the 1MDB scandal.

Last December, former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad also said that Goldman Sachs had offered "one point something billion" dollars for an out-of-court settlement over its role in the 1MDB scandal.