Goldman Sachs has been accused of hiring prostitutes to win business in Libya

Late Libyan dictator, Muammar GaddafiReuters

Goldman Sachs hired prostitutes to win business from Libya’s sovereign wealth fund, established by late-dictator Muammar Gaddafi, a UK court has been told.

The United Kingdom’s High Court was also told that Goldman Sachs also paid for private jets and five star hotels for the Libyan Investment Authority’s (LIA) employees, according to The Guardian.

The claims were made by attorneys for the LIA. Goldman Sachs will present its case to the court in the coming days.

This is all a part of a case that goes back to a lawsuit filed back in 2014.The Libyan government has accused Goldman Sachs of mismanaging nine trades in 2008 on which the bank ended up making $200 million. The government lost virtually all of its investment and is seeking $1.2 billion in damages.

“The claims are without merit and we will continue to defend them vigorously,” a spokesman for Goldman Sachs told Business Insider said.

The individual who has been accused of hiring the prostitutes, Youssef Kabbaj, has also denied the allegations.

“Goldman Sachs or myself never paid for any LIA employee any improper entertainment,” he told Bloomberg in an email.

The LIA cited a Goldman Sachs staffer describing his experience with LIA employees as having “delivered a pitch on structured leveraged loans to someone who lives in the middle of the desert with his camels”.

Some documents also go into detail about a Goldman internship that was offered to the brother of Mustafa Zarti, the LIA’s former deputy chief, allegedly to garner business for the bank.

For more, head to The Guardian>>

And for more on this crazy lawsuit, head to The Daily Beast where Josh Brown of Reformed Broker fame wrote an epic piece on the affair>>