The German lender is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice on whether it broke laws during dealings with Malaysia's 1MDB investment fund.

The 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 economic-development 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. 

Probes Focused on Money Raised

Tim Leissner, a former Goldman Sachs Group executive who pleaded guilty last year for his role in 1MDB’s scandals, has been helping with the look at Deutsche Bank, the newspaper said. The former head of Southeast Asia at Goldman pleaded guilty to U.S. charges that he conspired to launder money and violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. 

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.

Fielded Questions in Singapore

The probe of Deutsche Bank comes just as the lender said it will cut a fifth of its 91,000-person workforce and exit some business segments as it seeks to improve profitability. It paid more than $18 billion in fines and other legal costs over the decade.

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, 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.