Instead, senior managers at 1MDB directed Deutsche Bank Malaysia to transfer $300 million to a Swiss account held in the name of the 1MDB-PetroSaudi joint venture and $700 million to another Swiss account on behalf of Good Star, Low’s company.
BSI has said it will cooperate with authorities. PetroSaudi did not respond immediately to an e-mailed request for comment.
The Justice Department complaints say that 1MDB officials deceived Deutsche Bank about the $700 million transfer, representing that Good Star was owned by PetroSaudi when in fact it was not. The money went to Low.
Fund Raising
Deutsche Bank, which like PetroSaudi has not been accused of any wrongdoing, declined to comment.
The filings also highlight the role of Goldman Sachs in the 1MDB scandal.
In addition to Low’s “bro” e-mail to a Goldman employee related to plans for the 2009 relaunch of 1MDB, the complaints describe Goldman’s role in raising billions of dollars for the fund in 2012 and 2013. Goldman’s fundraising efforts were dubbed “project Magnolia,” “project Maximus” and “project Catalyze.”
The complaints note the “boilerplate language” that Goldman used in its circulars to promote the bond sales didn’t include the possibility that some of the money would be be paid to individuals associated with the fund or the Malaysian official believed to be the prime minister.
‘No Visibility’
According to Michael DuVally, a Goldman spokesman, “We helped raise money for a sovereign wealth fund that was designed to invest in Malaysia. We had no visibility into whether some of those funds may have been subsequently diverted to other purposes.”