WASHINGTON — A subsidiary of Goldman Sachs pleaded guilty on Thursday and agreed to pay more than $2 billion in a foreign corruption probe tied to the Malaysian 1MDB sovereign wealth fund, which was looted of billions of dollars in a corruption scandal.
The company, Goldman Sachs Malaysia, entered the plea in federal court in Brooklyn. As part of its plea, the company admitted that it “knowingly and willfully” conspired to violate U.S. anti-bribery laws.
Malaysian and U.S. prosecutors had alleged that bond sales organized by Goldman Sachs provided one of the means for associates of former Prime Minister Najib Razak to steal billions over several years from a fund that was ostensibly set up to accelerate Malaysia’s economic development.
In July, Malaysia’s government said it had reached a $3.9 billion settlement with Goldman Sachs in exchange for dropping criminal charges against the bank over bond sales that raised money for the fund.