KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 — The Pakatan Harapan government will service the debt interest of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and SRC International Sdn Bhd totalling RM2.7 billion in 2020.
In tabling the Supply Bill (Budget) 2020 in Parliament today, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the government was committed to paying off all borrowings and obligations inherited from the previous Barisan Nasional regime.
“The Yang Amat Berhormat Prime Minister’s Vision 2020 of Malaysia becoming a high-income nation was derailed due to the shameless turning of Malaysia into a global kleptocracy and involved a total of over RM150 billion,” he said.
For 2019, Lim said the government was committed to paying a total of RM2.4 billion to service the debt.
Meanwhile, Lim also expressed gratitude on behalf of the government to Malaysians who have generously contributed a total of RM203 million towards Tabung Harapan Malaysia that has been utilised for the above repayments.
Former prime minister and Pekan MP Datuk Seri Najib Razak is currently on trial at the High Court.
Najib’s ongoing 1MDB trial involves 25 criminal charges — four counts of abusing his position for his own financial benefit totalling almost RM2.3 billion allegedly originating from 1MDB and the resulting 21 counts of money-laundering.
Lim added that approximately RM1.45 billion has been returned by international authorities, including the proceeds from the sale of superyacht Equanimity as of July 2019.
“The Malaysian government will continue to leave no stone unturned in our attempt to recover the stolen funds and assets from around the world.
“This includes pursuing Goldman Sachs as well as their 17 directors for their complicity in the 1MDB scandal,” he said.
In June, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad revealed that the US investment bank had offered Malaysia RM1 billion to settle the 1MDB case out of court, which he described as “peanuts” and “not adequate”.
It was reported that Goldman Sachs pocketed US$600 million (RM2.51 billion) in fees for arranging the bonds related to 1MDB.
Malaysia then filed criminal charges against 17 current and former directors at subsidiaries of Goldman Sachs in August, following an investigation into the 1MDB multibillion-dollar corruption scandal.
In September, Goldman Sachs president and chief operating officer John Waldron was quoted saying in an interview with Bloomberg TV that the investment bank was keen to return any related money to Malaysia and sought an amicable solution to the matter when asked about 1MDB.
