Following yesterday's heated argument in the Dewan Rakyat over the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government's settlement deal with Goldman Sachs, former attorney-general Tommy Thomas issued a final denial that he had reached any settlement with the investment bank.
Thomas also said that he would not talk about the matter any further.
"It is not my intention to prolong an unnecessary slanging match with the minister of finance, who should be devoting all his time and energy in managing the nation's economy in the time of Covid-19.
"I am severely handicapped without copies of all my letters on Goldman Sachs to the prime minister," he added in a handwritten note made available to Malaysiakini.
"Hence I will cease commenting on the subject, except to deny that we agreed to accept US$1.75 billion.
"We did not. No settlement on any terms had been reached with Goldmans when I resigned on Feb 28, 2020," he wrote.
The note was signed (Tan Sri) Tommy Thomas and dated Aug 7, 2020.
Yesterday's dispute began when Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz cited a Feb 11 letter written by Thomas, in which Thomas allegedly wanted to agree to a settlement of just US$1.75 billion (RM4.2 billion).
Former finance minister Lim Guan Eng (Harapan-Bagan) later questioned whether PN's US$3.9 billion deal was cabinet approved, only for Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun to interject and answer on behalf of the government.
The PN government's deal with Goldman, for US$2.5 billion in cash and US$1.4 billion in a guarantee on the recovery of assets acquired using stolen 1MDB funds, had been criticised by Thomas, who argued the government could have obtained a better deal.
Responding to this in Parliament, Tengku Zafrul said that on Feb 11, Thomas had written to then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, saying Goldman Sachs had agreed to raise their settlement offer to US$1.75 billion.
This included US$164 million in taxes and the return of US$576 million in fees paid to Goldman by the government for the 1MDB deal.
"The recommendation made by the former AG was to find a settlement outside of court.
"At all material times, the former AG was also seeking a settlement with Goldman. It is therefore disingenuous of him to say we should not have done what he wanted to do in the first place," Tengku Zafrul claimed yesterday.
Tony Pua (Harapan-Damansara) then interrupted saying Thomas had stated that a settlement should have only been made after Goldman and its executives had been charged in court so that the government could have maximum leverage to obtain the highest compensation.
Pua added that to his knowledge, the Pakatan Harapan government had rejected Goldman's US$1.75 billion offer. - Mkini
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