Malaysian political stalwart Lim Kim Siang chided Goldman Sachs new CEO David Solomon for a ‘late and insufficient’ apology regarding the 1MDB scandal.
In a text message leaked to the press, Solomon says what the investment bank had done “isn’t us”, alluding to the former management’s mishandling of the scandal.
Lim Kit Siang, who is also the Democratic Action Party (DAP) leader and an MP in the Malaysian Parliament said, “Goldman Sachs Group Inc CEO David Solomon’s voice mail to Goldman Sachs employees that ‘This isn’t us’ to distance the megabank from the multi-billion 1MDB scandal is too late, too little and too paltry,” Lim said in a statement which was reported by Yahoo yesterday.
The once feared opposition leader now an MP on the Pakatan Harapan government’s bench said Goldman is clearly complicit since the message from Solomon only came after the Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment.
The indictment was outlined in the civil suits filed in US courts.
Malaysia is seeking a return of the vast ‘profit’ made by Goldman Sachs in the 1MDB affair.
Goldman’s shares plummeted after Malaysia’s Finance Minister, Lim Guan Eng, who is also the son of Lim Kit Siang lambasted the company for its complicity in the 1MDB scandal.
Lim Kit siang said Solomon’s move was an attempt to whitewash Goldman’s involvement in the reported fraud of hundreds of billions of dollars of the sovereign fund.
Last week, Malaysia’s PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said bankers at Goldman Sachs Group Inc “cheated” the country in dealings with state fund 1MDB.
He did not mince his words saying US authorities have promised to help return the fees the Wall Street bank earned from the fund, adding, “There is evidence that Goldman Sachs has done things that are wrong,” in an interview with CNBC.
Two suspected culprits from Goldman have so far been arrested or pleaded guilty over financial transactions related to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
Last week, Former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng has been arrested in Malaysia while his former colleague Tim Leissner pleaded guilty in New York.
DoJ) has charged Leissner alongside fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low in the affair.
Malaysia is trying to get back fees that include nearly $600 million that it paid Goldman for three 1MDB bond deals.
The bank, which did not admit its guilt, has been under scrutiny for its role in raising $6.5 billion for 1MDB.
Most of the money went for frivolous expenses, while other investments in 1MDB went missing for years.
The Najib Razak regime fell in May this year after a tough election campaign with the 1MDB scandal playing a major part in the shocking results.