Goldman Sachs gets fresh shot at ending costly 1MDB corruption scandal
Three years after Goldman Sachs Group agreed to fork over more than $US5 billion for its role in the plundering of Malaysia’s 1MDB investment fund, the Wall Street giant has struggled to put the scandal to bed.
Now, the New York-based bank and the South-East Asian nation are taking a fresh stab at resolving one of the most embarrassing episodes in the bank’s history.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim: “We are not unreasonable.” Bloomberg
Behind the scenes, Goldman Sachs executives had made fresh overtures, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told Bloomberg News during his visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
He struck a more conciliatory tone after recently saying he may consider taking Goldman to court over disagreements tied to the deal sealed by the previous government.
A settlement was “possible because we are not unreasonable, we ask what is reasonable, and I even refused to state the quantum because then we should allow for some flexibility to discuss”, Mr Anwar said.
“I don’t think it’s fair to suggest that the entire deal has got to be relooked into, but there are specific areas where there is a flaw. Maybe we just focus on that.”
The investment fund 1MDB became the centre of a multibillion-dollar scandal that spawned investigations across continents. Months after striking the initial agreement in 2020 – and staging an unusual and amusing photo-op with Malaysian government officials to celebrate it – Goldman admitted to its role in the biggest foreign bribery case in US enforcement history, reaching multiple international settlements exceeding $US5 billion for its part in raising funds for 1MDB.
Malaysia is also pursuing efforts to bring back former Goldman banker Roger Ng, who has
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