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SINGAPORE: Malaysian Anwar Ibrahim said it would be "inexcusable" if Goldman Sachs was complicit in the scandal surrounding 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
He confided in Bloomberg on Tuesday (November 6th) during an interview at the New Economy Forum in Singapore.
It was announced earlier this month that US prosecutors have indicted two Goldman Sachs bankers, Tim Leissner and Roger Ng, in the context of the 1MDB case.
Leissner, a former Goldman Sachs partner in Asia, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to violate the law on corrupt practices abroad.
According to prosecutors, the two bankers and the fugitive Malaysian financier Jho Low had conspired to launder the proceeds of fraud involving 1MDB via the US financial system. Part of the laundered funds would then have been used to pay bribes to do business for Goldman.
The Wall Street financial institution would have raised US $ 6.5 billion in three bond sales for 1MDB, and generated about US $ 600 million in fees and commissions for transactions – an amount that critics say far exceeds the 1% could expect to help sell bonds.
READ: Scandal 1MDB: A Timeline
READ: US Department of Justice Announces Continued Investigations on Malaysia's 1MDB Database
"We must follow the process in due form, but if they (Goldman Sachs) are willing to negotiate, they must return (money).
"We are talking about $ 600 million of commissions. (Goldman Sachs) must understand (this) to be complicit in excesses and the crime is inexcusable," said Anwar in the Bloomberg interview.
"We must recover every penny that has been removed from the country, either by the leaders or the accomplices of this action," he added.
READ: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak claims 25 lawsuits for abuse of power and money laundering
Goldman Sachs has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has declared full cooperation with the authorities. In a securities deposit released Friday, it could be punished by transactions with 1MDB.
Speaking at the forum, Anwar, the de facto leader of Malaysia's Keadilan Rakyat Party, said it was "a failure of governance" that had led to the 1MDB scandal.
"I mean, you allow corrupt leaders to squander as much as possible, and the elites are dumb and complicit in the crime." International financial institutions and Goldman Sachs of course, so many others, "he said. to the audience.
"I think the lesson we've learned is that, first, restore order in our home, restore good governance, but also give a strong message that it must end."
