Specifically, Goldman Sachs admitted to engaging in a scheme to pay more than $1.6 billion in bribes to both countries’ government officials between 2009 and 2014.
The firm paid committed bribery through certain of its employees including Tim Leissner, the firm’s former Southeast Asia Chairman and participating managing director, and Ng Chong Hwa, also known as “Roger Ng,” former managing director of Goldman and head of investment banking for GS Malaysia.
Leissner, Ng, and their co-conspirators paid the bribes using more than $2.7 billion in funds that they transferred and misappropriated from the bond offerings underwritten by Goldman Sachs.
A “major milestone in the effort to fight foreign corruption”
In a statement, DOJ Criminal Division Assistant Attorney General Brian Rabbit said, “Today’s resolution is significant. It includes criminal charges against the bank and a guilty plea by its Malaysian subsidiary. It also requires Goldman to disgorge the entirety of its 600 million dollars in fees, pay a $2.3 billion penalty, and admit wrongdoing. In short, it imposes serious consequences that reflect the central role that Goldman and its employees played in this serious criminal scheme.”
