[ad_1]
The US Department of Justice has pledged to release billions of dollars that have been diverted from Malaysia's investment fund, according to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
"The process takes a little time. First, you must provide proof that your money belongs to you, "Mahathir told reporters at the Asean Summit in Singapore. "But [the DoJ] promised to return the money.
The DoJ estimated that the hijacked funds of 1MDB totaled about 4.5 billion dollars. Mr Mahathir wants to recover the full amount, but said that "a lot of the money might have been lost along the way".
Malaysia is seeking to recover some of these funds from Goldman Sachs, which has organized bond issues worth $ 6.5 billion for 1MDB, nearly half of which have been diverted, according to the DoJ.
Malaysia's ruling coalition, which overthrew Najib Razak, former prime minister and founder of 1MDB, in the May elections, has asked Goldman to return the $ 600 million paid for the organization of the three broadcasts.
This month, the DoJ has indicted two former Goldman bankers, while Anwar Ibrahim, who will succeed Mr. Mahathir in the next two years, said last week that Goldman "must understand this to be complicit. . . is inexcusable ".
Mahathir reinforced the message on Tuesday, warning that Goldman would be punished if he was found guilty. "If the law says that a person has committed a crime, she should be punished as a result of the judicial process," he said.
This month, the DoJ has accused two former Goldman bankers – Tim Leissner and Roger Ng – of working with Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, to launder billions of dollars diverted from 1MDB and conspiring to bribe government officials. the bank would win business.
Mr. Low maintains his innocence, while Mr. Leissner pleaded guilty. Roger Ng, who was arrested in Malaysia, did not launch a plea and could not be reached for comment by the Financial Times.
Mr. Mahathir also refused to rule out Goldman's ban in Malaysia.
"Goldman Sachs did things that are bad and they should not have done," Mahathir said in an interview with CNBC. "But we want to see the results of this whole investigation and the actions taken against Leissner, for example."
Asked about the scandal of compliance checks at Goldman Sachs, Mr. Mahathir said:[don’t] works very well ".
Goldman declined to comment on Mr. Mahathir's comments.
On Monday, Goldman Sachs had its worst day on the markets since 2011: its share price fell 7.5% due to growing concerns over the 1MDB scandal.
