KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 24 — The police this morning searched local law firm Rahmat Lim & Partners for documents linked to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), business daily The Edge reported.
According to The Edge, the police were looking for documents involving three 1MDB bonds worth US$6.5 billion which Goldman Sachs had handled when they were issued in 2012 and 2013, noting that Rahmat Lim were then acting for Goldman Sachs.
“The police are there now after obtaining a court order to do a search because the law firm had refused to hand over documents requested by the police,” a source was quoted as saying by The Edge.
The same source reportedly said local law firm Wong & Partners — which had acted for 1MDB in those transactions — had handed over requested documents to the police.
“Lawyers should not think that they can withhold documents in a criminal investigation,” the source was quoted as saying.
Malay Mail contacted the two law firms for comment on the reported raid and clarification on their role in the 1MDB saga.
“Wong & Partners does not comment on ongoing investigations,” the firm told Malay Mail in an email reply.
Last December 17, the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) said Goldman subsidiaries, two of the US investment bank’s former employees, as well as two former 1MDB employees have been charged in relation to three 1MDB bonds.
The AGC said the charges were based on providing allegedly false or misleading statements in the misappropriation of US$2.7 billion from the proceeds of the three bonds issued by 1MDB subsidiaries and arranged and underwritten by Goldman.
The three bonds were issued in May 2012 (US$1.75 billion), October 2012 (US$1.75 billion) and in March 2013 (US$3 billion) by 1MDB Energy Limited, 1MDB Energy (Langat) Limited, and 1MDB Global Investments Limited respectively, with a collective value of US$6.5 billion.
The AGC said Goldman benefited by receiving, underwriting and arranging fees of approximately US$600 million, which were alleged to be higher than market rates and industry norms.
Yesterday, The Malaysian Reserve reported Goldman Sachs Group Inc as saying it had deposited all the net proceeds from three 1MDB bond transactions in 2012 and 2013 into 1MDB’s bank accounts.
“Not a cent of those funds has ever passed through any accounts controlled by Goldman Sachs, nor have any of those funds been subsequently moved or redirected under our authority,” the portal quoted an unnamed Goldman spokesman as saying in reply to its questions.
The three bond deals worth US$6.5 billion were cited by the publication as being named Project Magnolia, Project Maximus and Project Catalyse.
The Malaysian Reserve quoted the Goldman Sachs spokesman as saying that significant power assets were legitimately purchased with part of the proceeds raised from the bond offerings, and that “evidence presented by the US Department of Justice and others allege that other funds from the proceeds were stolen by members of the previous Malaysian government and those close to them”.
