KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12— Lim Guan Eng said today he would be glad if the government manages to claim back 30 per cent of assets purchased with stolen funds from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
In an interview with radio station BFM today, the finance minister said that Putrajaya is currently faced with an uphill task, as some of the assets are located all over the world.
“When you talk about those acquisition of assets, for example the superyacht Equanimity, which I think that is now up for public bidding. But expenses have been incurred.
“So we are now looking at around 30 per cent. I would be happy if we can get 30 per cent nett. After all the expenses have been incurred and after we have managed to identify and locate some of these assets bought from stolen money,” he said.
Lim said that on 1MDB’s funds separately, the government is looking to claim RM50 billion. This he said, does not include monies spent on dubious projects as well as inflated projects, some of which have been cancelled, while others differed.
During the interview, Lim said that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government is also seeking a full refund of all the fees paid to banking giant Goldman Sachs; a name now more synonymous with the alleged financial misdeeds involving 1MDB.
“I mean for starters, we would seek a full refund of all the fees paid to Goldman Sachs.
“We are going to claim back. We hope to seek a refund of all the fees paid as a start, and number two of course losses. Especially in the interest differentia.
“When we took the yield, I think it was at a much higher rate than the market rate; by 100 basis points higher. The interest differentia is another claim we are making. Finally, other consequential losses which Goldman Sachs will hopefully make good,” he added.
Lim however said that it is up to the attorney general’s ability to restitute the claimed funds.
He also called on political parties which knowingly received proceeds from 1MDB to return the funds to the government.
“No stones will be left unturned. At the same time, those political parties who received money from 1MDB, I think they should do the right thing by coughing up, by returning back the money they have taken,” he added.
Last week, Lim told Goldman Sachs to return the US$588 million (RM2.4 billion) fees it was paid for its work with 1MDB.
He said the American investment bank was paid the fees for raising bonds totalling US$6.5 billion (RM23.29 billion) for the Malaysian state investment firm back in 2012 and 2013.
United States prosecutors have filed criminal charges against two former Goldman Sachs bankers and a Malaysian financier linked to the alleged theft of billions of dollars from 1MDB.
Tim Leissner, former partner for Goldman Sachs in Asia, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and agreed to forfeit US$43.7 million (RM181.8 million).
It was revealed that Goldman Sachs generated about US$588 million (RM2.4 billion) in fees for raising three bonds worth US$6.5 billion (RM23.29 billion) in 2012 and 2013.
Goldman Sachs chief executive officer David Solomon told an interview with Bloomberg TV in Singapore recently that it was “distressing” to find two former Goldman Sachs bankers went around the bank’s policies and broke the law in their dealings with 1MDB.
