BANGKOK: Malaysia is still engaging with Goldman Sachs on the amount of compensation over the 1MDB scandal it expects to get from the investment bank and financial services company.
Prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is in town for the 35th Asean Summit, noted that the government rejected a previous Goldman Sachs offer that was deemed too low.
“They’ve caused us to lose about US$7 billion (RM29 billion). They may not want to pay us that amount. Their (compensation) offer is too low, because of that we have not accepted their offer,” he told Malaysian media when queried on the matter, here today.
“But how much we’re willing to accept, of course, it’s based on the negotiation, out of court negotiation. But if we cannot reach an agreement, we’ve to go to court,” he said.
In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Dr Mahathir was quoted saying that Goldman Sachs had offered ‘less than US$2 billion’, an amount that Malaysia was not satisfied with.
“We’re not satisfied with the amount, so we are still talking to them ... if they respond reasonably, we might not insist on getting the US$7.5 billion,” Dr Mahathir had said in the Financial Times article.
The article said Goldman Sachs helped 1MDB to raise US$6.5 billion in bonds, and that the former allegedly earned RM600 million in fees from the bond issues.
It said Malaysia has demanded US$7.5 billion in compensation from Goldman for ensuing losses. — Bernama
