Najib: None of my children were offered jobs at Goldman Sachs

PETALING JAYA: None of Datuk Seri Najib Razak's children have ever worked or been offered jobs at Goldman Sachs, says the former premier.

“While the headlines in local media hinted that I was bribed by Goldman Sachs with offers to (get) my children work at the bank, what former South-East Asia chairman Tim Leissner described was their attempt to bribe me.

“This didn't happen and none of my children was ever offered a job at Goldman Sachs and had never worked at that US bank," he wrote on Facebook on Wednesday (Feb 23).

Najib added that Leisnner made the introductions for his daughter to apply for a job at TPG Capital in Hong Kong, which has nothing to do with Goldman Sachs.

Najib said it was no secret his daughter used to work at TPG Capital for about a year.

“The position was not even high – just as an investor relations professional,” he said.

“I wonder why the media is playing up my children’s jobs issue when Leissner's statement in court also included allegations that BNM’s (Bank Negara) approval for 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Bhd) transferring US$1bil in funds to PetroSaudi and Good Star was given immediately," he said.

On Tuesday (Feb 22), Leissner – the star witness in the bribery trial of former Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker Roger Ng – testified that ex-Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein met Najib in 2009 ahead of US$6.5bil (RM27.2bil) in bond deals for 1MDB, and that the meeting came with an agenda.

In return for the lucrative business, Goldman Sachs was to get Najib's three children jobs at the bank, Leissner said.

In the end, he told the court on Tuesday, he just helped Najib’s daughter get a job at TPG Capital.