Najib says Goldman Sachs should take responsibility for failing to protect M'sians' interests

He blames the bank for the 1MDB scandal.

Kayla Wong | January 18, 2019, 12:11 AM

Former prime minister of Malaysia Najib Razak said Goldman Sachs has to take responsibility if they failed to safeguard the Malaysian people's interests.

He was responding to a question posed by a reporter regarding David Solomon, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, apologising to the people of Malaysia.

The apology on Wednesday, Jan. 17 (Singapore time), was for a former Goldman employee's role in the scandal surrounding state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Najib, who was at Cameron Highlands, said:

"Well, we put up a system. The system was there to take care of our interests.

So if they fail, then they have to take responsibility, because they were appointed and paid by 1MDB to take care of our interests."

Goldman Sachs' apology

Solomon made the apology during a conference call:

"It is very clear that the people of Malaysia were defrauded by many individuals, including the highest members of the prior government.

For Leissner's role in that fraud, we apologise to the Malaysian people."

The employee in question, Tim Leissner, was the bank's former Chairman of Southeast Asia.

He had pleaded guilty last year in November to U.S. charges of money laundering and bribery related to 1MDB, effectively admitting that funds from 1MDB was used to finance the expensive lifestyle of many Malaysian high-ranking officials, The Star reported.

The bank is now under investigation by the Malaysian authorities and the US Department of Justice for its culpability in the fraud.

Top image via Najib Razak's Facebook page