Malaysia has dropped criminal charges over the American investment bank’s role in the multi-billion dollar 1MDB scandal.
Deputy public prosecutor Masri Mohd Daud informed the High Court that the prosecution wishes to discontinue its case against U.K.-based Goldman Sachs International and its Asian entities, Goldman Sachs (Asia) and Goldman Sachs (Singapore), owing to «new developments,» the Malay Mail reported on Friday.
«There are new developments in this case, where the prosecution does not plan to continue prosecution on all charges on all Goldman Sachs entities. With that we withdraw the charges,» Daud said, without elaborating on the developments.
Goldman Sachs was accused of misleading investors in raising billions of dollars for 1MDB, while allegedly knowing the funds would be misappropriated. According to court proceedings in Kuala Lumpur, the bank was granted a discharge amounting to acquittal.
Deal Reached
The two sides reached a deal in July, with Goldman Sachs agreeing to pay $3.9 billion – a $2.5 billion cash payout and $1.4 billion in proceeds from assets linked to 1MDB.
«Bloomberg» noted that Goldman Sachs had to boost its legal reserves by $2.01 billion to account for the Malaysia settlement, shaving its second-quarter net income by 85 percent, despite a rise in profits due to trading gains.
The bank's settlement, however, does affect Malaysia's claims against other people such as alleged mastermind Low Taek Jho and former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng.
