The Malaysian unit of global financial titan Goldman Sachs pleaded guilty in a US court on Thursday in the massive 1MDB Malaysian bribery scandal. The plea in federal court for violations of US bribery law comes as part of a deal to end the criminal probe into the corruption case involving the Malaysian government's investment fund. The move could curtail activities of Goldman Sachs Malaysia but allows the parent company to avoid admitting wrongdoing -- which would have damaged its ability to do business. Goldman Sachs helped raise $6.5 billion for the sovereign wealth fund, and the US Justice Department has said more than $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB by high-level officials at the fund and their associates between 2009 and 2015. The parent company pled not guilty in US court and agreed to "deferred prosecution" for three-and-a-half years, which is expected to impose certain conditions including increased monitoring. Goldman faces fines and penalties of more than $2 billion, which the Justice Department and SEC are expected to announce later Thursday. The Malaysian government dropped the charges against Goldman in July after reaching a $3.9 billion settlement with the financial giant. The firm, which posted profits of $3.5 billion in the latest quarter, had set aside more than $3.1 billion as of September 30 "for litigation and regulatory proceedings." hs/cs