FORMER attorney-general Tommy Thomas has denied that he agreed to accept a US$1.75 bil (RM7.33 bil) settlement with Goldman Sachs over the investment bank’s role in the multi-billion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) corruption scandal, contrary to what Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said in Parliament yesterday.
“It is not my intention to prolong an unnecessary slinging match with the Minister of Finance, who should be devoting all his time and energy in managing the nation’s economy in the time of Covid-19.
“I’m severely handicapped without copies of all my letters on Goldman Sachs to the Prime Minister.
“Hence, I will cease commenting on the subject, except to deny that we agreed to accept US$1.75 billion. We did not. No settlement on any terms had been reached with Goldmans [sic] when I resigned on 28th February 2020,” Thomas said in a statement today.
Zafrul told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday that Thomas had proposed Malaysia settle its 1MDB claim with Goldman Sachs out of court.
The proposal, said Zafrul, was conveyed in a letter to then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.
“This is against what he had earlier recommended for the Pakatan Harapan government, which was to not accept settlement outside of court,” Zafrul said.
Thomas had indicated in the letter that Goldman Sachs was agreeable to increase the settlement sum from US$1.5 bil to US$1.75 bil.
According to Zafrul, the figure was inclusive of US$164 mil in taxes and US$567 mil fees paid to Goldman Sachs.
“At all material time, the former A-G was also seeking a settlement with Goldman Sachs.
“It is therefore disingenuous of him to say we would not have done exactly what he wanted to do in the first place,” said Zafrul.
Prior to revealing the letter that he claimed was not shown to the public, Zafrul said on Dec 13, 2019, a record showed that the Pakatan Harapan government offered a US$4 bil settlement to Goldman Sachs but was rejected by the bank which in return made a counteroffer of US$1.5 bil.
Goldman Sachs had agreed to pay US$2.5 bil in cash and US$1.4 bil in assets to the Malaysian government, totalling US$3.9 bil.
While continuing his winding up speech, Zafrul was interjected by Umno’s Pontian MP Ahmad Maslan asking if Thomas and Mahathir had lied to Malaysians.
Zafrul said through latest negotiations, the government had managed to get US$2.5 bil in cash, and that it is 42% higher than what was last agreed by Thomas.
“This amount does not include tax payment (mentioned earlier). On top of that, we will get US$1.4 bil in assets return and (a separate) tax payment.
“With this, the total we are receiving, including the ones from the DoJ (US Department of Justice), is more than US$4.5 bil.
“But the government is still committed to claim other assets that yet to be returned and this settlement does not jeopardise the government’s demand towards any individuals or companies linked to the scandal (1MDB),” he said.
DAP’s Damansara MP Tony Pua then interjected Zafrul.
“Did the letter by Tommy said the PH government was going to accept the US$1.75 bil settlement? As far as I know, the PH government had rejected the amount.
“Tommy also did not say that the government should not go for an out of court settlement.
“So, it is disingenuous of you to say that he did. He said the best time to do it (out of court settlement) is after the Goldman Sachs and its directors have been hauled to court to face charges.
“I quote him (Tommy) ‘this will give Malaysia the maximum leverage’,” said Pua.
Zafrul said although the case against Goldman Sachs and its 17 directors were registered during the PH government, none of them have been charged in court.
“The charge submission has yet to be done and if Malaysia wants to charge all 17 directors, all 17 will have to be extradited to Malaysia.
“The process was never done by him (Thomas) when he was A-G. If he had, it would definitely be opposed by the 17 directors who still don’t know if they could even be extradited to Malaysia,” he said.
DAP’s Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng, who then finance minister, said if the US$3.9 bil was a settlement approved by the Perikatan Nasional government as such a huge amount cannot be determined by just one or two individuals.
“It seems as though this decision was made by two people, not the Cabinet. An important matter like this must go through the Cabinet.
“Did the Cabinet approve this amount?” Lim asked repeatedly.
Zafrul did not reply. Several Umno MPs, including Arau MP Shahidan Kassim and Baling MP Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim then told Zafrul that he did not need to answer as the government had the right not to do so.
This had caused an uproar in Dewan Rakyat with Abdul Azeez calling Lim a “liar” and that Lim was misleading the House.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun weighed in by saying that such a matter would have definitely been brought to Cabinet.
“It was agreed by the Cabinet that the A-G has been given the mandate to find a solution,” Zafrul said.
But the floor turned chaotic with Azhar calling for an adjournment with MPs from both divides still yelling at each other.
Zafrul is the only minister who did not manage to address debate questions this week, despite being asked by opposition MPs to answer their queries made in last week’s debate on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s royal address. – Aug 7, 2020
