AN Italian banker has now been identified as the “mystery man” behind Goldman Sachs’ links to the 1MDB scandal, reports Bloomberg.

Andrea Vella, who oversaw Goldman Sachs’ investment banking for all of Asia except Japan, is now officially “on leave” after the US prosecutors last year tied him to deals which allowed fugitive financier Low Taek Jho and Malaysian officials, including former prime minister Najib Razak, to loot billions of dollars from the state fund.

The New York-based bank has denied any role to defraud 1Malaysia Development Bhd, instead blaming “rogue banker” Tim Leissner, its former chairman for Southeast Asia, for conspiring to bribe government officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi and launder money from the bond offerings that Goldman Sachs handled for 1MDB.

Another former Goldman Sachs banker, Roger Ng, is still trying to reach a plea deal on US charges over the embezzlement of funds from 1MDB.

Ng, who worked under Leissner, was brought to the US in May, pleaded not guilty to the charges of conspiring to bribe officials and money-laundering over his role at Goldman Sachs, which raised more than US$6 billion (RM25.5 billion) for 1MDB and pocketed a US$600 million fee.

Bloomberg said today that if American prosecutors can show how someone powerful like Vella helped fuel the 1MDB fiasco, it will be much harder for Goldman Sachs to deny it was aware of attempts to bribe officials while pinning the blame on Leissner.

Vella is now lying low in Asia, the report said, “training for a triathlon” while still on Goldman Sachs’ payroll.

Last week, Attorney-General Tommy Thomas filed charges against 17 current and former directors of three Goldman Sachs subsidiaries, as part of efforts to make the bank accountable for crimes under their watch.

However, Bloomberg said the bigger fight is looming in the US, where prosecutors are preparing to hash out a settlement with Goldman Sachs.

Vella was named in the charge sheet and was allegedly briefed on plans to pay bribes and kickbacks to ensure 1MDB’s fundraising proceeded. – August 16, 2019.