KUALA LUMPUR, April 17 — The Special Task Force on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is now focusing its effort on reviewing the settlement deal between Goldman Sachs and the previous Perikatan Nasional-led (PN) government, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today.
He said that based on initial findings, the task force led by Titiwangsa Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani believed that the settlement deal should be reviewed.
“I agree because from the very start, I found that the deal was made in haste, and that’s why it raised a lot of questions…because we should get a bigger amount.
“The deal with IPIC (International Petroleum Investment Co) for example,…they want to settle with a lesser amount, but we stood firm and we got US$1.8 billion, that’s huge.
“That’s why I said some people underestimate the importance of transparency and firmness, but this is about saving the people’s money,” he told reporters after launching Sayr Al-Salikin’s Masterpieces (4 Volumes) and Hikayat Iskandar Zulkarnain at Wisma Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka here today.
Anwar said this in response to a question on the latest development of the task force set up last month.
It was reported that Goldman Sachs had paid RM11 billion and guaranteed the return of US$1.4 billion (RM6.1 billion) in seized 1MDB assets to the Malaysian government in 2020 as part of a settlement reached after several years of negotiations initiated by the first Pakatan Harapan government, and later continued by the succeeding PN government under then prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
In another development, Anwar said the government will look into the call made by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang for the reports by the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) and Institutional Reforms Committee (IRC) to be made public in keeping with the principles of good governance.
“I just received the information (on Kit Siang’s call), l will discuss it with the Cabinet because our principles are clear. Just like the report on the Double Six tragedy, the information should not be kept secret, but be made public,” he added.
