1MDB: Malaysia files charges against 17 current and ex-Goldman Sachs bosses

Investment bank’s most senior bosses in London among top bankers facing criminal charges.

The most senior Goldman Sachs banker in London is among 17 former and current bosses at the investment bank facing criminal charges in Malaysia in connection with the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal.

Richard Gnodde, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs’ international operations, has been charged by Malaysian authorities for heading up one of the bank’s major subsidiaries between 2012 and 2013. During that period, Goldman helped raise $6.5bn (£5.4bn) for the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, $4.5bn of which was allegedly looted by fund officials and the former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak. read more »

Defense Contractor to Pay $3.3M to Resolve False Claims Act Allegations

Company knowingly manufactured medical products in China and Malaysia for sale to the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs despite Trade Agreements Act prohibition

United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Ambu, Inc. (“Ambu”), will pay $3.3 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations that it manufactured products in China and Malaysia for sale to United States government agencies in violation of the Trade Agreements Act (“TAA”). read more »

The Truth About Painkiller Addiction

Amid an opioid crisis, authorities overestimated the danger of prescription painkillers—while doing too little to identify patients at risk of addiction.

I n the early days of the opioid crisis, public officials had reasons to blame it on all the pills. News stories featured people who, to the shock of their neighbors and loved ones, had died unexpectedly of a drug overdose. In an emergency, authorities do what they can with the tools at hand. In tightening controls on doctors who prescribed pain relievers, state and federal agencies were focusing on the aspect of the problem most subject to regulatory intervention.

To some degree, that strategy worked. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overdose deaths declined by about 5 percent in 2018—a dip attributable almost exclusively to fewer deaths from oxycodone, hydrocodone, and other prescription opioids. (Fentanyl deaths are still climbing.) Now that the fever of the may be breaking, Americans can revisit some of the stories we have told ourselves about the role of prescription medication in the crisis. read more »