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Najib paid Goldman top dollar to hide ‘systemic failure’, claims Kit Siang
Published:  Jan 19, 2019 9:31 AM
Updated: 3:05 AM
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DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang said it was Najib Abdul Razak who approved exorbitant fees for Goldman Sachs to allegedly hide the "systemic failure" in 1MDB.

This was after Najib argued that no one person should take the blame for the 1MDB debacle as it was a systemic failure and Goldman Sachs which received "very, very attractive fees" should have raised the alarm if there was something wrong.

"Najib blamed Goldman Sachs for failing in its task despite the exorbitant fee paid for the bank’s service.

"Wasn’t it Najib who approved the ‘exorbitant fee’ for Goldman Sachs to hide from the world the ‘systemic failure’ which enabled the commission of the heinous and monstrous 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal which landed Malaysia with the infamy and ignominy of a global kleptocracy?" asked Lim.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Malaysian investigators claim that three bonds arranged by Goldman Sachs for 1MDB were misappropriated.

In total, Najib is accused of misappropriating at least US$4.5 billion from the state-owned fund.

On Wednesday, Goldman Sachs chief executive officer David Solomon apologised to Malaysians.

“It’s very clear that the people of Malaysia were defrauded by many individuals, including the highest members of the prior government,” he had said.

Lim, in his statement today, also questioned if Najib had inadvertently changed his position on 1MDB.

"Najib has maintained a very consistent stand that there is nothing basically wrong with 1MDB which could not be put right, but with the apology to the people of Malaysia by Goldman Sachs chief executive officer David Solomon who said Malaysia was defrauded by numerous individuals, including the highest members of the prior government, Najib has changed his tune.

"Najib crossed the Rubicon when he as good as admitted that the 1MDB scandal, which caused Malaysia to be condemned by the world as a global kleptocracy, was a national catastrophe but maintained that the blame for the 1MDB scandal cannot be pinned on a single individual but was a systemic failure," said the Iskandar Puteri MP.

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