Putrajaya Undeterred In Bid To Recover 1mdb Funds Says Johari

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Johari Ghani says Malaysia is even now actively engaging and cooperating with various countries and agencies to recover 1MDB-related assets.
PETALING JAYA: 1MDB asset recovery task force chairman Johari Ghani says the government remains undeterred by developments in the United States and will vigorously pursue the return of all funds misappropriated from state coffers.
“Regardless of the recent developments, the Government of Malaysia remains committed to its asset recovery efforts relating to the 1MDB scandal.
“Even now, Malaysia is actively engaging and cooperating with various countries and agencies to recover 1MDB-related assets,” the plantation and commodities minister told FMT.

He said the dispute with Goldman Sachs over a US$1.4 billion asset recovery guarantee furnished by the New York-based investment bank as part of a settlement agreement entered into with the government is currently under arbitration.
“Both parties, Goldman Sachs and the Government of Malaysia, have agreed to submit this matter to the jurisdiction of arbitration. Therefore, the final decision on the payment will be determined by the arbitrators handling this arbitration,” said Johari.
The settlement, inked in August 2020, has already seen the bank pay Putrajaya a US$2.5 billion (RM11.5 billion) cash payout.
“What is currently in dispute is the US$1.4 billion asset recovery guarantee, as Goldman Sachs is taking the position that Malaysia has already recovered more than the guaranteed sum from fines imposed on various parties, a contention that Malaysia does not agree with.”
He also said the government is exploring the possibility of “taking legal action against seven international banks that facilitated transactions linked to the 1MDB scandal.”
Earlier, journalist-cum-author Tom Wright was reported as saying that the US government’s recent suspension of a law banning bribery of foreign officials would likely scuttle Putrajaya’s pursuit of compensation from Goldman Sachs.
Wright’s comments came after US president Donald Trump signed an executive order freezing his country’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act on Monday.
CBS News reported that the executive order has placed a 180-day “pause” on all investigations under the legislation pending a review.
In a post on X, Wright, co-author of Billion Dollar Whale, a book which chronicled the 1MDB scandal, wrote: “No chance now Malaysia will get its billions from Goldman”.
In November last year, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim demanded that Goldman Sachs honour its settlement with Putrajaya over its role in the 1MDB scandal.
Johari was previously quoted as saying a lack of clarity in the settlement agreement entered into during Muhyiddin Yassin’s administration had allowed the bank to evade the full extent of its responsibilities to the government.
He said the New York-based investment bank had taken advantage of ambiguities in the document to sidestep the asset recovery guarantee given to the government under the agreement. - FMT

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