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Ethical Behavior

Response Guidelines

Respond to at least two peers (see below). Your responses should be substantive and could involve one or more of the following:

o Debate the topic. o Ask a probing question. o Share an insight you gained from your peer’s post. o Make a suggestion. o Share a personal experience related to the topic. o Expand on your peer’s post.

Tim Lessner, a former Goldman Sachs banker and Southeast Asia chairman, is seeking an agreement with prosecutors to provide cooperation with the government’s criminal fraud probe into a Malaysian fund. 1Malaysia Development Bhd is a state investment fund which earned nearly $600 million, Lessner is being accused of stealing billions of dollars. The investigation started when the Malaysian former prime minister, who founded the fund lost his re-election bid earlier this year. Investigators believe that the former Prime Minister Najib Razak used this as a political slush fund and it is believed to have been used by his associates as well to buy real estate, art and other luxuries all over the world. The U. S. Justice alleges that $4.5 billion was taken from this fund. They believe that the Prime Minister and another Malaysian businessman, Jho Low were the masterminds, which this could be one of the biggest fraud in history. When there is no check and balance in place and no accountability, it is easy for some to fall and be lead by greed. It is very important to have a strong ethical background

the unethical practices from major corporations have been uncovered or illuminated due to the extensive financial issues that many everyday people and businesses face. with Ponzi schemes, false accounts and financial statements it’s hard for people to know who to trust. This statement finds to be true when it pertains to the major banking company Goldman Sachs. Recently the company has once again found themselves to be under the microscope and facing serious claims of theft. One of their lead bankers has been arrested and accused of stealing billions of dollars from a Malaysian state investment fund called 1Malaysia Development Bhd. Baer, J., Hope, B., & Hong, N. (2018). The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Goldman Sachs and their banker have all denied involvement however the U.S. government is claiming that over $4.5 Billion dollars have been removed fro my the fund and placed in other bank accounts. Goldman Sachs has acknowledged that something is going on and has since suspended their banker. They also stated that since suspending him they have noticed inconsistencies in his accounts and it’s financial reporting.

For many people access to an extreme amount of money combined with little supervision can create opportunities for fraudulent activity if the possibility of being exposed is limited. I don’t think that this type of behavior is something that that happened over night I honestly believe that this type of behavior was not addressed until recently. The U.S. Government is now looking into if Goldman Sachs was aware of the misrepresentation and if they were required by law to report it. If Goldman Sachs was not required to report it, it releases them from any financial and criminal obligation. However, if they were required to report this they could be in the same amount of trouble as their banker.