1MDB scandal: Goldman Sachs to pay Singapore $122M

By Hayati Nupus

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AA) – Goldman Sachs will pay $165 million Singapore dollars ($122 million) to Singapore for its role in Malaysia’s 1MBD money laundering scandal, local media reported on Friday.

The American multinational investment bank entered a deferred prosecution agreement with the US Justice Department on Thursday, according to Channel News Asia.

Under terms of the deal, Goldman agreed to pay a $2.3 billion fine for breaking anti-bribery laws and to disgorge $600 million of ill-gotten gains, read the report.

Singapore’s Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) has given Goldman Sachs Singapore a 36-month conditional warning in place of prosecution for three charges of corruption, according to a statement quoted in the report.

Goldman Sachs Singapore will also pay $61 million – the amount it earned from 1MDB bond offerings – to Malaysian authorities.

“The total amount paid or to be paid by Goldman Sachs Singapore under the conditional warning is, therefore, US$183 million,” said the joint statement by CAD, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

The American firm was investigated for its role in generating $6.5 billion in three bond sales between 2012 and 2013 for the Malaysian government's sovereign wealth fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

Earlier, the US Justice Department said more than $4.5 billion were stolen from 1MDB by top officials and their associates between 2009 and 2015 with the help of Goldman bankers, the report added.

* Writing by Rhany Chairunissa Rufinaldo from Anadolu Agency's Indonesian language services in Jakarta.