KL examines other transactions of former Goldman banker: Anwar, Southeast Asia



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Malaysia's pending leader said the government is reviewing new Goldman Sachs deals led by former partner Tim Leissner, whose fundraising work for 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) has resulted in the Walloon entity. Street in one of the largest corruption scandals in Asia.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore, has not identified a specific transaction.

He also stated that it would be "inexcusable" if Goldman was complicit in the scandal surrounding the public investment company, perceiving one of the harshest and most direct criticisms ever addressed to the US bank by a man. Malaysian politics.

"We are reviewing other previous commitments, other agreements in the country, if they are transparent," Anwar said. "Although the focus is on 1MDB," he said, investigators in Malaysia and the United States are studying previous agreements in which Leissner was involved.

Goldman has been under surveillance for years for his role in raising $ 6.5 billion ($ 8.9 billion) from 1MDB and for nearly $ 600 million in fees and commissions generated by bonds.

1MDB is at the center of a global scandal involving money laundering and embezzlement complaints, which sparked investigations in the United States, Singapore, Switzerland and elsewhere.

Discussions are under way on the recovery of money from financial institutions, including Goldman, said 71-year-old Anwar, who is expected to replace 93-year-old Dr Tun Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister. in a year or two.

"They must understand that being complicit in excesses and that crime is inexcusable and that, in the process, the country and the people are suffering," said Mr. Anwar, questioned about the proposed meeting with the leaders of Goldman present at the forum.

"We must seize every penny removed from the country by the leaders or accomplices of this action."

Goldman has organized two separate bond investments of $ 1.75 billion for 1MDB in 2012 and a debt sale of $ 3 billion in 2013. He believes for years that the funds raised for 1MDB will be used for projects of development. "reflected the risks of underwriting," he had assumed. Authorities said the money went instead to yachts, luxury real estate and private bank accounts.

"We have to follow the process in due form, but if they are ready to negotiate, they must return" about $ 600 million of fees and commissions, said Mr Anwar, adding that he did not have the intention to meet with Goldman executives in Singapore, investigations are ongoing.

In the first charges brought against individuals by US prosecutors and made public last week, at least three senior executives of Goldman, including Leissner, were involved. Leissner, former president of Goldman for Southeast Asia, pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder money and confessed that he had bribed officials to get contracts bond with Goldman.

Court documents revealed that an unidentified Goldman official in Asia had conspired with Leissner, the Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho and another banker of the time, Ng Chong Hwa, and had learned that Bribes were paid.

BLOOMBERG

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