Goldman Sachs has sued the Malaysian government due to a dispute over the settlement of the multi-billion dollar 1MDB corruption scandal.
According to a Bloomberg report, the bank filed a lawsuit in the London Court of International Arbitration yesterday (11 October).
"We filed for arbitration 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," a Goldman Sachs spokesperson told Bloomberg.
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In 2020, Goldman Sachs agreed to pay the Malaysian government $2.5bn in settlement for its involvement in the multibillion-dollar embezzlement scheme involving Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB.
The settlement stipulates that the bank would need to transfer at least $500m in 1MDB assets by August 2022 or risk paying an additional $250m as an interim payment. There is disagreement between Goldman and Malaysia over whether the interim payment is due.
US authorities have alleged more than $4.5bn was embezzled from 1MDB, a fund established by former Malaysian leader Najib Razak to finance initiatives aimed at economic development.
The money was laundered and used to finance the 2013 movie The Wolf of Wall Street, as well as to purchase boats and real properties. Prosecutors have said Goldman helped 1MDB raise $6.5bn through bond sales, and earned $600m in fees.
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In a statement seen by the FT, Johari Abdul Ghani, who heads up a task force to recover assets lost from 1MDB, said the conduct of Goldman Sachs was surprising, as the parties were "still in the stage of good faith discussions to resolve any dispute amicably".
He said the bank's initiation of arbitration proceedings "appears to be an attempt to detract and divert attention away from their obligation to adhere to the interim payment of $250mn requirement under the settlement agreement", adding that the Malaysian government would respond accordingly.
