KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 1): The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is planning to announce multiple criminal charges related to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, including against two former Goldman Sachs bankers and Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

Citing people familiar with the matter, WSJ reported that Tim Leissner, former partner for Goldman Sachs in Asia, is expected to plead guilty to conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He is expected to forfeit US$43.7 million, the report said.

WSJ added that Roger Ng, the other former Goldman banker focused on Malaysia who left the firm in 2014, and Low will be indicted.

These will be the first criminal charges against individuals by the DoJ in the case. US prosecutors have previously filed civil asset forfeiture suits to seize assets allegedly purchased with funds stolen from 1MDB, said WSJ.

It was previously reported that Goldman Sachs’s work with 1MDB and the US$593 million fees it received for arranging bond deals for the Malaysian fund have come under scrutiny from regulators around the world, including agencies in the US and Singapore. The bank said in November last year it had received requests from “various government bodies” and was cooperating.

According to reports, Goldman Sachs’s ties with 1MDB have already ensnared one former senior executive. Leissner has been barred from the financial industries in Singapore and the US. He left Goldman Sachs in February 2016.