KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 — Malaysians would rather Goldman Sachs refund the US$600 million (RM2.52 billion) it took as fees to raise 1MDB bonds than hear further apologies from the investment bank, said DAP’s Lim Kit Siang.
The Iskandar Puteri MP acknowledged the apology tendered by Goldman CEO David Solomon recently over the role of two former bankers in defrauding 1MDB, but said the country preferred cash over empty acts of contrition.
“[The] billions lost in the 1MDB scandal could go to create jobs, provide places in schools and universities and to build clinic and hospitals for Malaysians and not to pad ill-gotten gains of crooks and kleptocrats,” he said in a statement.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad accused Goldman of “cheating” Malaysia in the arrangement.
Goldman 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 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.
It was also revealed that Goldman chairman Lloyd Blankfein sat in on meetings with Leissner and fugitive financier Low Taek Jho to discuss the bond issues.
