So Maddow reported the FBI has begun seizing property bought around the world with billions stolen from the Malaysian Govt by its PM, one of Trump’s friends. If this is an indication of how the FBI will deal with money laundering oligarchs and corrupt world leaders it should send a message to Trump and his cronies. And it -should- also cause Goldman Sachs a few headaches.
The investment fund the Malay PM used to steal/launder billions was set up by Goldman Sachs. Alex Turnbull, son of Australia’s Prime Minister, was the Goldman Sachs employee who set up the investment fund called 1MDB and blew the whistle on it. His complaint was ignored by G.S. and his career subsequently sidelined. Setting up the investment fund for 1MDB made Goldman Sachs an unusually large $590 million profit in commissions. Why didn’t GS listen to Turnbull?
It seems to me that banks, investment firms and real estate firms need to be held accountable for turning a blind eye to money laundering. And pay punitive penalties.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is no doubt hoping claims his son was sidelined by Goldman Sachs for blowing the whistle on controversial Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB will not distract from the upcoming summit of South East Asian leaders.
But Alex Turnbull says his role in exposing the 1MDB scandal is likely to appear in soon-to-be published book by two Wall Street Journal reporters.
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According to the blog and The Australian, Alex Turnbull raised concerns while working on a deal for Goldman Sachs that raised $US6 billion for 1MDB and made the Wall Street bank $US590 million in fees and commissions.
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Malaysia's Prime Minster Najib Razak helped set up the scandal-ridden 1MDB in 2009. A lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice has accused him of receiving $US681 million in stolen funds from 1MDB.
Mr Najib has denied these charges and claimed the money in his personal accounts was a gift from an unnamed Saudi prince.
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www.smh.com.au/...
There are probes related to 1MDB in at least 10 countries, focused on possible embezzlement or money laundering. At home, investigations have been less pointed. The U.S. Justice Department is seeking to seize about $1.7 billion in assets that it says were illegally acquired through money diverted from 1MDB, including real estate, art, a luxury yacht and proceeds from the film “The Wolf of Wall Street." (It has reached a $60 million settlement with the producer of that movie.) Singapore and Switzerland have imposed financial penalties on several banks for lapses in anti-money laundering controls related to funds allegedly from 1MDB. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, possible witnesses are too scared to talk to U.S. investigators because they fear retaliation.
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- Goldman Sachs made $593 million working on three bond sales that raised $6.5 billion for 1MDB in 2012 and 2013, dwarfing what banks typically make from government deals. It said in 2015 that fees and commissions “reflected the underwriting risks" it had assumed. New York’s bank regulator has asked the firm for a summary of its 1MDB work. Singapore’s prosecutors and police have interviewed current and former Goldman Sachs executives who worked on the bond offerings. They are also looking into the firm’s links with Low.
- Tim Leissner, the former Southeast Asia chairman for Goldman Sachs, wrote an unauthorized reference letter for Low on the bank’s letterhead. He resigned in February 2016. Singapore banned him from the securities industry for 10 years. The U.S. securities regulator barred him indefinitely.
www.bloomberg.com/...