Nothing Stops Goldman Sachs
Will Rodgers once said, “It takes a lifetime to build a good reputation, but you can lose it in a minute.”
One way or another we have all been given this sage advice, and some of us have learned the lesson the hard way. Reputation is everything.
Except for Goldman Sachs.
Goldman Sachs seems to defy reputation risk time and time again. The story of the 1MDB (Malaysian Development Berhad) scandal shows beyond much doubt, Goldman can pretty much do whatever the hell it wants. If Goldman gets caught, it enters a deferred prosecution agreement, — as was the case with 1MDB — or pays a fine and then goes on its way as if nothing happened.
In the case of 1MDB, Goldman reached a deferred prosecution agreement with the feds in 2020, but until last week, its former partner and Southeast Asia chairman, Tim Leissner, stubbornly stuck around as annoying residue from the scandal.
Leissner pleaded guilty in 2018 to money laundering and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by arranging over $1 billion in bribes to officials in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates to obtain lucrative underwriting mandates for Goldman.
Those mandates earned Goldman Sachs at least $600 million in underwriting fees. Leissner also vigorously ratted on fellow Goldman-ite Roger Ng, who received a 10 year sentence in 2023. Prosecutors asked for leniency, saying in a March 15 letter to the judge that “Leissner’s cooperation was of tremendous value and was central to the government’s ability to swiftly indict and successfully prosecute numerous individuals and entities involved in the 1MDB scheme.”
Goldman’s general counsel, Kathryn Ruemmler, responded May 21 with a letter to the judge that argued against leniency.
Leissner’s serial lies, fraud and deception at Goldman Sachs continued from the day he first brought the transactions to the firm through the day he left. Mr. Leissner’s efforts in this regard are worthy of sanction, not praise.
Before sentencing Leissner, U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie asked Prosecutor Drew Rolle what he thought of the letter.
Hilariously, Rolle retorted that Goldman’s letter was “the equivalent of a getaway driver showing up at a cooperator’s sentencing and saying: ‘You know judge, we wouldn’t be in this mess i
Article from LewRockwell
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