"HELP plunder, but deny when caught", seems to be the secret recipe of Goldman Sachs Group Inc, the global investment banking goliath.
As for denial, the American giant has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.
Blame it on a global practice of dropping criminal charges — present and future — in exchange for an "agreed" compensation. This is no negotiated sum; it is dictated by the financial power of the one who stands accused of either defrauding or helping to defraud another.
There shouldn't even be an "agreed compensation" in the first place. It should be the full amount embezzled and penalty for stealth.
Sadly, in our world of commerce that has lost its moral compass, it is the "best" practice that embezzlers are benchmarking against. Be that as it may, Goldman Sachs stands accused of helping the fugitive "financier" Low Taek Jho, or infamously known as Jho Low, plunder billions of dollars from sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.
Titiwangsa member of parliament Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani, who heads the country's task force to recover the money, was right when he said in an interview with this newspaper that the United States bank had played a central role in defrauding the Malaysian government. Unsurprisingly, Goldman Sachs resorted to the global benchmark of "no criminal charges now or in the future" in 2020 when it agreed to pay US$3.9 billion to Malaysia to settle outstanding charges and claims related to the three bond transactions it arranged for 1MDB.
Earlier, the Finance Ministry disclosed that under the settlement, more than US$4.5 billion would be returned to Malaysia. Furthermore, the settlement included a cash payment of US$2.5 billion and a guarantee for full payment of at least US$1.4 billion in terms of assets related to the revenue that was misappropriated through the bond transactions.
Whatever Goldman Sachs' view is, to Malaysia, the bank has not been forthcoming as revealed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in his interview with CNBC on Monday.
To the American banking goliath, Malaysia can be bullied into accepting less, precisely the charge Anwar is placing at the door of the previous administration. Whether desperation or other factors were at play, we leave that for the task force to disclose. But one thing is for sure: such allegations don't help recover the money.
What is worse, it is used by Goldman Sachs to its maximum advantage. The bank knows that time is money. The longer it keeps the billions it owes Malaysia in its vault, the better it is for its bottom line. Malaysia must not allow this. It must sue Goldman Sachs, if that is the only route to recover what it is rightfully owed.
The bank must remember that the longer it takes to pay what it owes, its reputation will take a hit. Goldman Sachs needs this reminder: reputation is money. The world is watching.
As for Malaysia, several lessons need learning. One such is that our negotiators should not sign away the country's assets for a pittance.
This is no wild allegation. Look at the contracts that Malaysia previously signed with foreign parties: gas, water and transport.
Turkmenistan, a former Soviet republic, has a public entity called the Competent Body. Perhaps our public sector needs one, too.