Anwar Ibrahim, the likely future prime minister of Malaysia, has condemned Goldman Sachs’ role in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal as “disgusting” and demanded reparations in excess of the $600m the bank gained in fees from the state investment fund.
Mr Anwar said Goldman should return “significantly more” than the $600m the bank was paid for arranging three bond sales because “it’s a cost to the image of the country, it’s a cost to investments and now it’s a burden shouldered by the government because of the complicity of so many of these so-called credible, renowned financial institutions”.
In an interview with the Financial Times, he said: “For them to use a country like Malaysia — which is struggling to reform itself economically, moving up the ladder — really, to me, it’s disgusting.”