Malaysia has received US$2.5b from Goldman Sachs - report

Malaysia has received a US$2.5 billion payment from Goldman Sachs yesterday, according to a report.

The tranche payment was paid via an escrow account, which is an account where funds are held in trust whilst two or more parties complete a transaction.

The Edge cited a source familiar with the Malaysia-Goldman Sachs deal as confirming the transaction.

"Now we have to work with Goldman Sachs to track other assets and wrongdoers. Their resources will be useful to us," the source was quoted as saying.

Last month, the Perikatan Nasional government struck a US$3.9 billion settlement with Goldman Sachs over the bank's role in the theft of 1MDB funds.

However, the deal has been criticised, as the bank will only need to pay US$2.5 billion in cash while the remaining is a US$1.4 billion guarantee on the recovery of assets acquired using stolen 1MDB funds, which is largely being conducted by the US Department of Justice (DOJ).

Critics say Malaysia would have received the US$1.4 billion from the DOJ even without the Goldman Sachs' deal.

The previous Pakatan Harapan government had sought US$7.5 billion in damages from Goldman. -Mkini