AGC to respond to Goldman Sachs, says public's interest paramount

 

The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) said it will respond to Goldman Sachs United Kingdom (UK) arbitration court action linked to 1MDB, reiterating that the interests of the Malaysian public are paramount.

"The government of Malaysia denies all allegations contained in the request for arbitration, as it mischaracterised the conduct of Putrajaya.

"The AGC, on behalf of the government of Malaysia, will prepare its response within the confines of the law and reiterate that the interest of the Malaysian people is paramount," it added in a statement today.

Earlier today, Bloomberg and Reuters reported that Goldman Sachs Group filed the arbitration action against Malaysia in a UK court, in relation to the settlement agreement linked to the bank’s role in the 1MDB affair.

Reuters quoted a source stating that the arbitration action was filed at the London Court of International Arbitration.

“Today (yesterday), we filed for arbitration against the government of Malaysia for violating its obligations to appropriately credit assets against the guarantee provided by Goldman Sachs in our settlement agreement and to recover other assets,” a spokesperson reportedly said.

Previously, it was reported that Anwar threatened to haul the bank to court.

Both sides were embroiled in a dispute over a 2020 settlement agreement, whereby the bank had agreed to pay US$3.9 billion (RM18.41 billion) to settle Malaysia’s criminal investigation over its role in the affair.

In a regulatory filing earlier this year, Goldman Sachs said it was also required to make a one-time interim payment of US$250 million (RM1.1 billion) if the Malaysian government had not received at least US$500 million (RM2.4 billion) in assets and proceeds by August last year.

The bank said the two parties are tussling over whether Malaysia recovered at least US$500 million as of August 2022 and whether any interim payment was due.

Malaysian and the US authorities estimated US$4.5 billion (RM21.2 billion) was embezzled from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund 1MDB in an elaborate global scheme that implicated high-level officials in the fund.

It was reported that prosecutors have said Goldman helped 1MDB raise US$6.5 billion (RM30.6 billion) through bond sales and earned US$600 million (RM2.8 billion)in fees.

The US has been returning funds it has recovered from seized assets that were allegedly bought with 1MDB money. - Mkini