FILE PHOTO: A trader works at the Goldman Sachs stall on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, New York, U.S. on April 16, 2012. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
November 3, 2017
(Reuters) – Singaporean prosecutors and police are looking at Goldman Sachs Group’s <GS.N> relationship with the scandal-hit Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Singapore’s economic crime unit and city prosecutors have interviewed current and former Goldman Sachs executives who worked on bond offerings from 1Malaysia Development Bhd, Bloomberg reported.
1MDB, founded by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, is facing money laundering probes in at least six countries including the United States, Switzerland and Singapore.
Najib has denied any wrongdoing.
A Goldman Sachs spokesman in Hong Kong declined to comment. Officials at the Singaporean police and 1MDB were not immediately available for comment.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) had earlier in the week barred two individuals involved in breaches related to Malaysia’s 1MDB fund from taking part in financial services management and advisory activities.
In March, the MAS issued a 10-year prohibition order against Tim Leissner, former Southeast Asia chairman at Goldman Sachs, who it said had made false statements on behalf of his bank without its knowledge or consent.
Leissner was responsible for managing the relationship with Malaysia’s 1MDB fund when Goldman Sachs was engaged to arrange three bond issues from 2012 to 2013. MAS had flagged its intention to ban Leissner last December.
(Reporting by Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru and Sumeet Chatterjee in Hong Kong; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
