U.S. authorities are examining whether the German bank violated foreign corruption or anti-money-laundering laws while helping to raise $1.2 billion for the Malaysian fund, the «Wall Street Journal» (behind paywall) reported, citing unidentified people with knowledge of the matter.

«Deutsche Bank has cooperated fully with all regulatory and law enforcement agencies that have made inquiries relating to 1MDB,» the company said in an emailed statement late Wednesday. It pointed to asset forfeiture documents previously filed by the Justice Department indicating 1MDB misled Deutsche Bank during transactions. 

Ex-Goldman Banker 

The German bank's involvement in the massive graft scandal is a further blow: the lender just said it will cut one-fifth of its 91,000-person workforce and set up a «bad bank» in a recovery bid. Deutsche has paid more than $18 billion in fines and other legal costs over the decade.

Tim Leissner, Goldman Sachs' former top man in southeast Asia is helping officials look at Deutsche Bank, the newspaper said. Leissner pleaded guilty to U.S. charges of money laundering and corruption last year. Last week, Hong Kong's financial regulator banned Leissner for life; Singapore extended an initial ban into a life one in December. He is widely believed to be cooperating with the investigation.

Probing Fundraising

Probes into 1MDB have mainly focused on more than $6 billion it raised in 2012 and 2013. Goldman Sachs handled the deals, reaping almost $600 million in fees. The bank, which has said it’s cooperating with investigations of that business, has portrayed Leissner as a rogue employee who circumvented the firm’s internal controls. 

Leissner has laid low since leaving Goldman in 2016 when the 1MDB scandal mushroomed. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, former model and designer Kimora Lee Simmons, according to her social media posts.

Link to Jho Low

Deutsche Bank previously fielded questions from authorities in Singapore examining possible ties between a former executive who worked at both Goldman Sachs and the German bank and fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, people with knowledge of the situation said last year. U.S. prosecutors are now examining the same executive, according to the Journal’s report.

Prosecutors have portrayed Low as the mastermind behind the scandal surrounding 1MDB, though he has consistently denied wrongdoing. Low, who remains AWOL, even as his $250 million superyacht was seized by officials, was a client of several Swiss wealth managers including Falcon and now-defunct BSI.