THE entire settlement between Goldman Sachs and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s negotiating team should be the subject of a thorough forensic audit.
In Tan Sri Tommy Thomas’ autobiography, My Story: Justice in the Wilderness, the former attorney-general said he was “confident of recovering” from Goldman Sachs the losses the Malaysian government suffered from three 1Malaysia Development Bhd bond issues.
Thomas put forward a figure of over US$9.6 billion (about RM43 billion) for the loss of principal and interest, before deduction of monetary benefits from the bonds (pp 315, 317).
However, when Muhyiddin and his team took over the government through the back door, his administration reportedly “settled” for a measly US$2.5 billion plus a US$1.4 billion undertaking for assets recoverable. That comes up to about US$3.9 billion. This is much lower than Thomas’ figure.
Aliran urges the Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim-led government to look up the previous administrations’ records.
Did Goldman Sachs agree to a much higher figure with the Malaysian government before Muhyiddin’s settlement?
If so, was an agreement signed between the government and Goldman Sachs for this higher sum?
If such an agreement is in existence, which was not revealed to the public, we urge Anwar’s government to make the agreement public.
Rather than investigate certain issues in the entire book to placate certain quarters, Aliran believes it would be more productive for the Malaysian government to focus its attention on the chapter on Goldman Sachs (pp 301-323).
In fact, the entire settlement between Goldman Sachs and Muhyiddin’s negotiating team should be the subject of a thorough forensic audit. – The Vibes, March 19, 2023
Aliran is Malaysia’s first multi-ethnic reform movement dedicated to justice, freedom, and solidarity
