KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 ― Pakatan Harapan (PH) has called today for justice to be served against all conspirators involved in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, after investment bank Goldman Sachs paid US$3.9 billion (RM16.6 billion) in reparations this week.
In a joint statement today, its Presidential Council reminded the public that the process involving Goldman Sachs only started following the victory of PH against Datuk Seri Najib Razak-led Barisan Nasional in 2018.
“We thank all parties involved in this effort, including the attorney general at the time who had begun the legal process in order to get justice for Malaysians,” it said, referring to Tan Sri Tommy Thomas.
“The return of this money is also proof of the existence of various misconduct and corruption in that era.
“Pakatan Harapan stressed that all the main characters in the 1MDB ‘scam’ case must be tried in court, including individuals named by the United States Department of Justice as ‘MO1’ and [Jho Low] who have not been arrested so far.
“They should not be allowed to be let free,” it added.
The statement was co-signed by PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, his Parti Amanah Negara counterpart Mohamad Sabu, and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.
The pact also reminded the Perikatan Nasional government that the original offer by Goldman Sachs was merely US$1.75 billion, which was then rejected by Putrajaya in 2019.
Putrajaya subsequently demanded US$7.5 billion, which meant the settlement was finally achieved with Goldman Sachs’ account for just a little over half of that.
US and Malaysian authorities say about US$4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB, in an elaborate scheme that spanned the globe and implicated former Malaysian prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Goldman Sachs, among others.
The court will deliver its verdict in the case against Najib on Tuesday, the first of several corruption trials he faces linked to the 1MDB scandal.
Najib has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.
The PH government has also issued arrest warrants against Low and former director of SRC International Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil in a graft probe related to 1MDB after getting power in 2018.
In December 2018, the Attorney General’s Chambers filed criminal charges against subsidiaries of Goldman Sachs, their former employees Tim Leissner and Roger Ng Chong Hwa, former 1MDB employee Jasmine Loo, and Jho Low in connection with 1MDB bond offerings arranged and underwritten by Goldman Sachs in 2012 and 2013.
