MALAYSIA has served summonses to three Goldman Sachs Group Inc units as part of its legal process involving troubled state fund 1MDB.

Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC, operating in Hong Kong; US, Goldman Sachs International (UK); and Goldman Sachs (Singapore) were served today.

Kuala Lumpur magistrate Mohamad Fared Abdul Latif set September 30 for the pre-trial hearing, dismissing an application by the prosecution for another six-week adjournment.

Goldman Sachs’ financial crime compliance chief David Cope appeared in court today, submitting letters of authorisation for him to appear on behalf of all three respondents.

Cope was represented by Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, Prem Ramachandran, Khrisna Dharma and Chetan Jethwani.

Hisyam told the court the team needed time to check with their client regarding the service of the summonses.

Four summonses were served in total because Delaware-based Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC has two addresses.

The remaining two summonses were sent to Goldman Sachs International (UK) and Goldman Sachs (Singapore), said deputy public prosecutor Aaron Chelliah.

“The prosecution’s position is that the summonses have been issued and they have been served,” Chelliah told reporters today, declining to name the people involved.

Only three of four charges were served to the Singapore unit, while the summonses only reached Goldman Sachs (Asia) last week, said Hisyam.

On December 17, the government of Malaysia filed criminal charges against three subsidiaries of Goldman Sachs Inc over their handling of bonds totalling US$6.5 billion (RM27 billion) issued by 1MDB.

This was the first time a country has filed criminal charges against the US investment banking giant.

It was reported that Goldman Sachs made US$600 million in fees for handling the bonds related to 1MDB.

In the US, prosecutors have filed criminal charges against Goldman Sachs bankers Tim Leissner and Roger Ng, with the latter extradited to the US last month.

US and Malaysian authorities have also filed charges against Penang-born fugitive financier Low Taek Jho for playing a central role in the alleged siphoning of US$4.5 billion from 1MDB.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Goldman Sachs had offered RM1 billion in compensation but described the sum as “not reasonable”.

In a Bloomberg interview at the Asean Business Summit – The Future of Malaysia and Asean in Bangkok, Thailand, he said the amount that was stolen amounted to about US$6.9 billion, including fees for Goldman Sachs.

“Goldman offered RM1 billion (but) they made 10% from it,” he said.

When asked by moderator Haslinda Amin what a reasonable sum would be, Dr Mahathir said that it would have to be at least 10% of the US$6.9 billion.

“In this case (1MDB), from 90% from the money raised but, we (the country) will be facing an interest for 100%,” he said.

Bernama reported that Dr Mahathir, in an interview with CNBC today, described the RM1 billion offered by Goldman Sachs as “peanuts”.

He told host Tanvir Gill that the Finance Ministry will decide the appropriate amount. – June 24, 2019.