Goldman Accused of Giving Libya Officials Gifts to Win Influence
- Goldman spent 22,000 pounds on LIA ‘training’ trip to London
- LIA a victim of credit crisis, not bank’s wrongdoing: Goldman
Libya Claims Damages from Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. used Moroccan vacations and hired prostitutes to woo unsophisticated officials at the Libyan Investment Authority, influencing executives to make risky trades that led to a $1.2 billion loss, lawyers for the $60 billion fund said at the start of a widely anticipated trial in London.
One Goldman partner said the LIA was "very unsophisticated” in a 2008 e-mail disclosed for the trial that started Monday. Another note from a bank vice president congratulated a co-worker for “a pitch on structured leveraged loans to someone who lives in the middle of the desert with his camels," according to documents. The attitudes are symptomatic of the bank’s dealings with the fund, Roger Masefield, the LIA’s lawyer, said in court.