A former co-president of Goldman Sachs of Asia, Andrea Vella, relieved of job in 2018, following an accusation that he violated the US anti-corruption law when he offered to pay bribe to Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials as a way of retaining Goldman Sachs as a bank advice in ‘lucrative’ transactions has been sanctioned by the U.S. The US Central Bank has finally placed a heavy sanction on him on Tuesday, banning him from working in the banking industry. The sanction was a result of Andrea role in the money hijacked from the Malaysian public investment fund 1Malaysisan Development Berhad (1MDB). However, two of Andrea’s colleagues – Tim Leissner, who led Goldman Sachs in Southwest Asia, and Ng Chong HW in Malaysia are currently considered as the mastermind of the scam.
At the moment, Goldman Sachs is in negotiation with the US and Malaysian authorities, who are in turn investigating his role in the 1MBD embezzlement. It was found out that Goldman Sachs already assisted the 1MBD in generating $6.5 billion and received 600 million as commission. The generated fund was found to have been transferred for the benefits Najib Razak, the former Malaysian Prime Minister for his extravagant spending. Goldman Sachs already kept $1.24 billion in 2019 to take care of the scam thereby drastically reducing its profit by 26%.
