KUALA LUMPUR- The government’s RM27.2 billion (US$6.5 billion) 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) bond cases against UK-based Goldman Sachs International Ltd and its Asian entity, Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC, will be heard in the High Court here.
This follows High Court Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan’s ruling today, allowing the prosecution’s application made by deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Norinna Bahadun, to transfer the two cases from the magistrate’s court to the high court.
Senior lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik who is representing Goldman Sachs, did not object to the matter.
The judge also fixed Dec 26 to hear the prosecution’s application to transfer the same case involving Goldman Sachs (Singapore) from the magistrate’s court to the high court.
In December last year, Malaysia filed four charges against Goldman Sachs for allegedly leaving out material facts on the sale of bonds between a subsidiary of 1MDB and Aabar Investment PJS Ltd (Aabar).
The offences were allegedly committed at 1MDB’s premises at Level 8, Menara IMC, No. 8, Jalan Sultan Ismail here, between March 19, 2012 and November 11, 2013.
The company was charged under Section 179 (c) of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007, which carries a penalty of imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years and a fine of not less than RM1 million, upon conviction.
Former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng Chong Hwa had also claimed trial to four counts of abetting the company, in reference to the sale of the same bonds by omitting material facts and making false statements.
The United States Department of Justice has estimated that about US$4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB between 2009 and 2014.- BERNAMA