PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian government denies all allegations by Goldman Sachs Group Inc, says the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC).
The allegations mischaracterised the government's conduct, the AGC added in a statement Thursday (Oct 12).
It affirmed that the government received a Request for Arbitration from Goldman Sachs on Wednesday (Oct 11), alleging breaches by the government with regards to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) settlement agreement on Aug 18, 2020.
ALSO READ: Goldman Sachs sues Malaysia as 1MDB settlement dispute escalates
"The government denies all allegations contained in the Request for Arbitration.
"The AGC, on behalf of the government, will prepare its response within the confines of the law and reiterate that the interest of the Malaysian people is paramount," it added.
Bloomberg reported that Goldman Sachs was suing Malaysia in a United Kingdom court amid festering disagreement over a settlement tied to its role in the 1MDB scandal.
"We filed... against the government of Malaysia for violating its obligations to appropriately credit assets against the guarantee provided by Goldman Sachs in our settlement agreement and to recover other assets," the report quoted a spokesman for the New York-based bank as saying.
Executives at the Wall Street firm had grown increasingly frustrated with the country’s demands to redo its existing 2020 pact in favour of more onerous penalties, and the lack of information tied to the looted assets the nation had been recovering.
The complaint was filed in the London International Court of Arbitration, a person familiar with the matter said.
The 1MDB investment fund became the centre of a multibillion-dollar scandal that spawned probes across continents.
Months after striking the initial agreement in 2020, Goldman Sachs admitted to its role in the biggest foreign bribery case in US law enforcement history, reaching multiple international settlements exceeding US$5bil (RM23.61bil) for its part in raising funds for 1MDB.
As part of the 2020 settlement with Malaysia, Goldman made an initial US$2.5bil (RM11.81bil) payment in September that year.
It also guaranteed the return of US$1.4bil (RM6.61bil) of 1MDB assets seized by authorities worldwide in exchange for Malaysia agreeing to drop criminal charges against the firm and to not bring new ones.
The bank also was required to make an interim payment of US$250mil (RM1.18bil) if Malaysia didn’t receive at least US$500mil (RM2.36bil) of assets and proceeds by August last year, according to Goldman Sachs.
The two sides had been locked in a disagreement over that, the bank had said in public filings.
Malaysia’s government recently threatened to sue Goldman Sachs if the bank did not renegotiate the settlement.
"They are taking us for granted, they think that we won't proceed," Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said last month.
"There’s nothing for us to lose except for the legal fees, which a government can manage. But it’s also the integrity of Goldman Sachs that’s in question," Anwar was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
