Goldmans Sachs Inc (NYSE:GS) shares suffered their biggest fall for seven years as concerns over a growing fraud scandal in Malaysia sent investors ducking for cover.
The US bank collected almost US$600mln in fees after helping Malaysia’s controversial investment bank IMalaysia Development (IMDBB) raise US$6.5bn via bond sales in 2012 and 2013.
US authorities have said a number of Goldman Sachs executives were party to a fraud that saw billons of those funds siphoned off and millions paid out in bribes.
Lim Guan Feng, the country’s finance minister, said yesterday he wanted back the fees paid to Goldman.
Tim Leissner, the bank’s former chairman of South East Asia, has admitted bribing officials to get the bond deals and moving US$200mln into accounts he controlled.
Goldman said Leissner and other staff covered up what they were doing from the bank and that it was also deceived by their actions.
Even so, Goldman is expected to be heavily fined by the US Department of Justice, which has launched an investigation into the role of at least three of the bank’s senior staff in the scandal.
Goldman shares fell 7.5% to US$206.05.