Goldman Sachs will pay $2.9 billion after pleading guilty to bribing foreign leaders with Malaysia's money
Goldman Sachs has pleaded guilty to criminal charges for the first time in its long history.
The bank pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of conspiring to violate anti-bribery laws as it helped Malaysian financiers and leaders siphon money from the country's economic development fund. It will pay $2.9 billion to U.S. authorities, including $1.3 billion to the Justice Department, the DOJ said in a Thursday press conference. That's the largest penalty ever charged under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars U.S. companies from bribing foreign leaders, CNN reports.
The DOJ alleged Goldman Sachs of playing a role in a scheme in which a Malaysian financier, a former prime minister's family, and other powerful people in the country lifted $2.7 billion from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund. Those people used the money to buy yachts, van Gogh and Monet paintings, and even a share in developing the movie The Wolf of Wall Street. Goldman already settled with Malaysia over the summer to pay back $3.9 billion.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Despite its role in the 2008 financial crisis and dozens of other scandals, Goldman Sachs has never before had to plead guilty to criminal charges, The New York Times notes. The bank did have to pay fines to cover some of those past issues, but this $5.1 billion sum is more than it paid after "peddling bonds backed by risky mortgages a decade ago," the Times writes.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Is Donald Trump behind potential Gaza ceasefire and will it work?
Today's Big Question Israel and Hamas are 'on the brink' of a peace deal and a hostage exchange, for which the incoming president may take credit
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Chemnitz: an 'unlikely renaissance' for the 'forgotten' town
The Week Recommends The birthplace of Germany's industrial revolution is hoping to reinvent itself
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Maha Kumbh Mela: world's largest religious festival gets under way in India
In The Spotlight Politics of Hindu nationalism has cast a shadow over event touted as biggest ever gathering of humanity
By The Week UK Published
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor deal
Speed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden expected to block Japanese bid for US Steel
Speed Read The president is blocking the $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, citing national security concerns
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons merger
Speed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Rupert Murdoch loses 'Succession' court battle
Speed Read Murdoch wanted to give full control of his empire to son Lachlan, ensuring Fox News' right-wing editorial slant
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Bitcoin surges above $100k in post-election rally
Speed Read Investors are betting that the incoming Trump administration will embrace crypto
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Enron mystery: 'sick joke' or serious revival?
Speed Read 23 years after its bankruptcy filing, the Texas energy firm has announced its resurrection
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US charges Indian tycoon with bribery, fraud
Speed Read Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been indicted by US prosecutors for his role in a $265 million scheme to secure solar energy deals
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Boeing machinists approve contract, end strike
Speed Read The company's largest union approved the new contract offer, ending a seven-week strike
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published