.JPG "Malaysia's Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad speaks after he was conferred an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the National University of Singapore November 13, 2018. u00e2u20acu201d Reuters pic")
SINGAPORE, Nov 13 — Bankers at Goldman Sachs Group Inc must be held accountable for their conduct over 1MDB if these are found to violate any laws, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who earlier said Malaysia was “cheated” in the matter.
The prime minister insisted that Putrajaya was not on a mission of vendetta over the 1MDB corruption scandal, but simply insisting that any and all involved in allegedly defrauding Malaysia of billions must answer for their crimes.
“If the law says that somebody has committed a crime, then he should be accordingly be punished through the process of law.
“It doesn’t matter who, maybe Goldman Sachs, maybe whoever,” Dr Mahathir told the media at the Asean Business and Investment Summit here.
Dr Mahathir said the rule of law is “very specific” that it is illegal to launder, steal, or utilise money for graft.
The US investment bank is under heavy scrutiny for its role in helping raise funds through bond offerings for 1MDB, which is the subject of corruption and money-laundering investigations in at least six countries.
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has said about US$4.5 billion (RM18.8 billion) was misappropriated from 1MDB, including some money that Goldman Sachs helped raise, by high-level officials of the fund and their associates from 2009 through 2014.
US prosecutors filed criminal charges against two former Goldman Sachs bankers earlier this month. One of them, Tim Leissner, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Dr Mahathir said today that the process to recovering the 1MDB funds will be a long process, in which Putrajaya must fight to establish its ownership over these.
“So it takes a little bit of time, but they have promised to give back the money,” he added, referring to the DoJ.
