January18,2019

David Solomon, Chief officer of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., apologized to Malaysian people on January 17th for the senior banker, Tim Leissner, involved in the 1 Malaysia Development Berhad(1MDB) scandal. However, Mr. Solomon assured that every transaction was under the due diligence.

During the conference, Mr. Solomon mentioned that many Malaysian people were cheated by many people. From the internal review of Goldman Sachs Group, the 1MDB project did not involve any intermediary. But in fact, Low Taek Jho, the financier was identified as an intermediary in the 1MDB project. 

Malaysian government and the United States of Justice investigated this financial scandal because Goldman Sachs bakers processed three bond transactions to raise the funds up to 6.5 billion for the 1MBD. The revenue of the transaction should be offered to develop the infrastructure and to boost the economy. However, the revenue was stolen by financers and others. 

Last year, United States prosecutor charged two ex-bankers of Goldman Sachs for stealing money from 1MBD project. Mr. Leissner, the former senior bankers of Goldman Sachs, was found guilty and broke the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Mr. Leissner denied any intermediaries in this scandal. His representation attorney did not make any comments to the accusation from U.S. prosecutors.

The ongoing investigation has influenced the stock market of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The shares decreased 34 percent. This was the worst performance among six biggest banks. To recover the terrible performances, Goldman might have to spend around $5 million.