Anwar picks Goldman Sachs critic Johari to lead 1MDB task force

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has appointed vocal Goldman Sachs Group Inc critic Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani (pic) to chair a task force formed to resolve matters linked to the multibillion-ringgit 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.

Anwar told Parliament late on Thursday (March 9) that he agreed with criticism Johari (BN-Titiwangsa) had raised on Malaysia’s settlement deal with Goldman Sachs on 1MDB.

ALSO READ: Johari questions 'poor' negotiations on Goldman Sachs’ US$2.5bil settlement

Johari said last week the government should review its deal with Goldman Sachs for its role in the scandal, as the final sum was too low.

"I myself disagree with the past decisions, which were too light when the understanding was made,” said Anwar, speaking at the tail end of the policy stage of the Budget 2023 debate.

"Goldman Sachs profited off our hardship and pain.”

Goldman Sachs and the Malaysian government are currently in dispute over how much the US bank owes Malaysia for its role in raising $6.5bil (RM29.4bil at present exchange rates) in 2012 and 2013 for 1MDB.

The bonds were earmarked for redevelopment but all except US$2bil (RM9bil) of the money was diverted to pay bribes to government officials, US federal prosecutors said.

The settlement announced by the previous government in July 2020 called for Goldman Sachs to pay US$2.5bil (RM11.3bil) while guaranteeing the return of US$1.4bil (RM6.33bil) of 1MDB assets seized by authorities around the world, in exchange for Malaysia dropping charges against the bank.

ALSO READ: Ex-Goldman banker Ng sentenced to 10 years prison in 1MDB corruption case

Johari last week said the US$2.5bil figure agreed upon was too little, and Goldman Sachs should be made to pay the US$1.4bil sum outright. He told Parliament the bank was including in its accounting of 1MDB assets settlement payments recovered from other institutions that had been involved in the case, such as AmBank, Deloitte PLT and KPMG.

"Why should we sacrifice money that we can get from the number one investment bank in the world?” Johari said on Feb 27, to thumps of approval from fellow lawmakers. "How can we allow Goldman Sachs just to run away like that when its senior management was involved?”

Johari was the second finance minister during jailed former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s administration at the height of the 1MDB scandal. He lost his parliamentary seat in 2018 but won it back in November’s general election, and has since raised the Goldman Sachs issue in Parliament and in interviews with local media. – Bloomberg