Goldman Sachs-1MDB settlement: Pakatan claiming credit for Perikatan’s success
Pakatan Harapan is trying to claim credit for this success (READ BELOW). But the truth is Pakatan Harapan was prepared to accept a far lower offer, which would have been less than half of what Muhyiddin’s team squeezed from Goldman Sachs.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Just four months in office and Muhyiddin Yassin’s team has managed to gain much progress in the 1MDB matter. Amongst the members of Muhyiddin’s team are Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Securities Commission Chairman Syed Zaid Albar, and Treasury Secretary General Asri Hamidon.
The negotiating team, which was led by Attorney General Idrus Harun, were Solicitor General II Siti Zainab Omar, Securities Commission Chief Regulator Officer Foo Lee Mei, and lawyers Rosli Dahlan and D.P. Naban.
The negotiating team
It was a tough five-day negotiation but finally they managed to come to an agreement on the matter (READ MORE HERE: Goldman Sachs to return US$3.9 billion in 1MDB settlement to Malaysia).
Pakatan Harapan is trying to claim credit for this success (READ BELOW). But the truth is Pakatan Harapan was prepared to accept a far lower offer, which would have been less than half of what Muhyiddin’s team squeezed from Goldman Sachs.
Pakatan Harapan is asking the government to “bring the 1MDB conspirators to justice” (SEE NEWS ITEM BELOW). That was actually what Pakatan Harapan promised THEY would do once they came to power in May 2018, but which they never did. Why ask the current government to do what Pakatan promised they would do two years ago?
Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Lim Guan Eng talk so much but did very little to settle the 1MDB matter
Anyway, the Goldman Sachs matter is an out-of-court settlement of a civil matter, not a criminal matter. Pakatan Harapan does not seem to understand the difference. The criminal action against the 1MBD “conspirators” was supposed to be Pakatan Harapan’s job, as promised before GE14. Why did they not do that as promised?
Pakatan’s “success” was in raiding and seizing RM1.1 billion worth of cash and valuables from Najib Tun Razak’s residence. Then what happened? They were supposed to charge Najib or return the seized cash and valuables within a year. They did not do both. And now we hear that more than half the cash and valuables have disappeared (or were never there in the first place).
Then they alleged that Najib stole RM42 billion, then RM50 billion, then RM150 billion, of 1MDB’s money. But they charged Najib for “stealing” only RM42 million of SRC International’s money. On Monday we will know whether Najib is going to jail for “stealing” RM42 million. But RM42 million is far short of RM42 billion or RM50 billion or RM150 billion.
That is Pakatan’s only “success” on the 1MDB matter.
Pakatan Harapan’s only “success” was in seizing what they said is RM1.1 billion in cash and valuables but after that nothing happened and more than half the seized items lesap
In short, Pakatan Harapan did nothing other than just talk and main wayang. Perikatan Nasional, on the other hand, does things without so much tok kok. And in four months they succeeded in settling that Goldman Sachs matter which Pakatan could not do in two years.
Well done to the team that managed to recover almost RM17 billion of Malaysia’s lost money. And to Pakatan Harapan, janganlah lembu punya susu babi nak ambil nama. Malulah sikit!
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Pakatan: After Goldman Sachs’ settlement, time for other 1MDB conspirators to face justice
(MMO) – Pakatan Harapan (PH) has called today for justice to be served against all conspirators involved in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, after investment bank Goldman Sachs paid US$3.9 billion (RM16.6 billion) in reparations this week.
In a joint statement today, its Presidential Council reminded the public that the process involving Goldman Sachs only started following the victory of PH against Datuk Seri Najib Razak-led Barisan Nasional in 2018.
“We thank all parties involved in this effort, including the attorney general at the time who had begun the legal process in order to get justice for Malaysians,” it said, referring to Tan Sri Tommy Thomas.
“The return of this money is also proof of the existence of various misconduct and corruption in that era.
“Pakatan Harapan stressed that all the main characters in the 1MDB ‘scam’ case must be tried in court, including individuals named by the United States Department of Justice as ‘MO1’ and [Jho Low] who have not been arrested so far.
“They should not be allowed to be let free,” it added.
The statement was co-signed by PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, his Parti Amanah Negara counterpart Mohamad Sabu, and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.
The pact also reminded the Perikatan Nasional government that the original offer by Goldman Sachs was merely US$1.75 billion, which was then rejected by Putrajaya in 2019.
Putrajaya subsequently demanded US$7.5 billion, which meant the settlement was finally achieved with Goldman Sachs’ account for just a little over half of that.
US and Malaysian authorities say about US$4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB, in an elaborate scheme that spanned the globe and implicated former Malaysian prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Goldman Sachs, among others.
The court will deliver its verdict in the case against Najib on Tuesday, the first of several corruption trials he faces linked to the 1MDB scandal.
Najib has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.
The PH government has also issued arrest warrants against Low and former director of SRC International Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil in a graft probe related to 1MDB after getting power in 2018.
In December 2018, the Attorney General’s Chambers filed criminal charges against subsidiaries of Goldman Sachs, their former employees Tim Leissner and Roger Ng Chong Hwa, former 1MDB employee Jasmine Loo, and Jho Low in connection with 1MDB bond offerings arranged and underwritten by Goldman Sachs in 2012 and 2013.
