Bloomberg reporter Michael Moore was recently given a brief, tantalising glimpse of transcripts from the case against Goldman Sachs brought by one of its former mortgage traders, Deeb Salem.

Though he had been paid $US35 million ($37 million) over six years in his job, Salem argued in February before a panel of US securities industry regulator Finra that, back in 2010, he had been cheated out of millions by the bank.

Overnight, Goldman Sachs showed that it also had been a beneficiary of the Brexit bonanza. Credit:Lucas Jackson

“Let’s be very clear," Salem testified, "I was one of the most sought-after investment professionals in the mortgage industry.” Goldman Sachs, he claimed, was punishing him for his 2007 "self-evaluation" form, later made public by a US Senate investigation, in which he boasted of having manipulated the market for subprime mortgage bonds so that he might bet against them at higher prices.



“I am as competitive as Michael Jordan," Salem wrote to his superiors, to tell them something about himself. "I don’t just want to win; I want to win every time and I want to steamroll the opposition.”



As evidence that he had been led to believe his bonus would be nearly twice what he received, Salem introduced his mother. She'd been staying with him during Christmas 2010, after her home had burned down. Just before his disastrous bonus meeting he had told her what his superiors at Goldman had promised him.

The transcripts offered a partial view of the inner workings of both Goldman's bonus politics and the minds of the people to whom Goldman pays the most money. Alas, the day after it appeared, Goldman succeeded in getting all documents from the dispute sealed. And yet, somehow, perhaps as the result of a technical glitch inside Goldman Sachs, one document has still slipped through. We publish it without comment:



"Dear Mama:



First, let us dispense with further loose talk about the fire that burned down your home. As I have said, repeatedly, I am willing to testify under oath, or, if necessary, upon your grave, that I did not set this fire. Despite our explicit verbal agreement, which you made just after taking your pain medication, I have decided to disgorge to you the proceeds from your home insurance policy -- though you will admit that the policy was indeed in my name, and that it was I, not you, who shrewdly arranged for the insured value to be wildly inflated. But please do not request further financial assistance. I am hurting here.



I write to report a tragedy: My notional superiors have failed to award me the $US13 million they promised to me. I told you of this promise over Christmas, as you will soon remember. My spectacular decision to short the subprime mortgage market, after manipulating that market so that my short could take place at artificially high prices, is the stuff of legend. In spite of what many refer to as "The Triumph of Deeb," they have elected to pay me the disgraceful sum of $US8.25 million, making vague promises to "make it up to me in the future."



I can hear you saying, "Deeb, what is the matter with you? I raised you to take what is yours plus some of what belongs to others and you are failing me," or "Deeb, when will you learn to guard your narrow interests in spite of any social consequences, as I have taught you?" Before you lambast me, and my character, I will tell you that I will not be taking this lying down. I will soon go to battle with Goldman Sachs. In this battle, I will require your assistance.



On your last visit you stated that the contents of my old bedroom had been salvaged and were now in storage. This is most unfortunate. Goldman will stop at nothing to avoid paying me what I am worth. I am concerned they will attempt to use various items from my childhood against me. Please travel to the storage facility and destroy the following: