Goldman Sachs Is Said to Try to Avoid Pleading Guilty in 1MDB Scandal

NEW YORK TIMES

Goldman Sachs is trying to get federal prosecutors to ease up on the bank for its role in a brazen scheme to loot billions of dollars from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.

Lawyers for the bank have asked Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen to review demands by some federal prosecutors that Goldman pay more than $2 billion in fines and plead guilty to a felony charge, according to three people briefed on the matter. read more »

California Advances AG-Sponsored Legislation to Strengthen the False Claims Act and Protect California Taxpayers from Fraud

CA ATTORNEY GENERAL

The California State Assembly today approved AB 2570, legislation authored by Assembly member Mark Stone and sponsored by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, that will strengthen the California False Claims Act (CFCA). The legislation increases the ability of the Attorney General and other prosecuting authorities to investigate fraudulent claims and recover public funds lost due to fraud or misrepresentation.

Additionally, the bill further incentivizes whistleblowers by providing more complete protections from discrimination and retaliation for reporting violations of the CFCA and by protecting them from civil liability for sharing confidential documents to provide evidence of a false claim. read more »

Canadian cryptocurrency firm collapsed due to Ponzi scheme by late founder, regulator says

REUTERS

Last year’s collapse of Canadian cryptocurrency trading platform Quadriga CX was due to a Ponzi scheme operated by founder Gerald Cotten, who died suddenly in December 2018, the country’s biggest securities regulator said on Thursday.

“What happened at Quadriga was an old-fashioned fraud wrapped in modern technology,” staff at the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) wrote in a report. read more »