GOLDMAN Sachs needs to “come to terms” with its role in the multi-billion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal and not attempt to pin its misdeeds on rogue bankers, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng told The New York Times.

Lim said the bank, which brokered several deals for the sovereign state fund under the previous administration, was responsible for the billions of ringgit of debt it racked up.

“We have suffered extremely large losses and you were the financial adviser,” Lim told the newspaper in an interview in Hong Kong.

“Now how do you account for that? And don’t tell me you don’t know where the money went,” he said.

“Goldman Sachs needs to come to terms with the facts.”

The bank arranged three bond deals in 2012 and 2013 to fund 1MDB, raising US$6.5 billion to supposedly attract foreign investments. For its troubles, it charged 1MDB US$600 million, a fee that dwarfs what banks typically makes from government deals.

The US Department of Justice says that the money raised was embezzled by fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho and former prime minister Najib Razak, leaving Malaysia in debt.

“You look at the agony that Malaysia had to endure not just in terms of the figures but the trauma,” Lim said.

“You must have a heart. Sometimes you ask, does Goldman have a heart?”

Goldman Sachs has distanced itself from former bankers Roger Ng and Tim Leissner, who have both been charged with abetting Low.

The bank accused Leissner, who has pleaded guilty, and others of sidestepping internal protocols.

Last month, Putrajaya filed criminal charges against Goldman Sachs, accusing the bank of defrauding investors, and is seeking US$7.5 billion (RM31 billion) in compensation.

Goldman Sachs has denied the allegations, adding that “certain members of the former Malaysian government and 1MDB lied to Goldman Sachs”.

“Under the Malaysian legal process, the firm was not afforded an opportunity to be heard prior to the filing of these charges against certain Goldman Sachs entities, which we intend to vigorously contest,” the bank said in an emailed statement to NYT. – January 15, 2019.