THE government plans to make all individuals and political parties, besides Umno, that were involved with 1Malaysia Development Bhd return funds taken illegally from the state investment arm, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Lim said Umno was not the only party to have received money from 1MDB.

“To be fair, Umno was not the only political party that received money,” Lim told Reuters in an interview.

“Those who have taken money from 1MDB should return it to the country.”

Lim said the government would scrutinise the US$600 million (RM2.4 billion) paid in fees to investment bank Goldman Sachs for raising nearly US$6.5 billion in three bond sales between 2012 and 2013 for 1MDB.

Fees earned by Goldman Sachs were above the industry average of 1%-2%.

Civil suits filed in 2016 by the United States Department of Justice alleged that over US$2.5 billion raised from those bonds were misappropriated by high-level 1MDB officials, their relatives, and associates.

“We will be looking at the possibility of seeking claims from Goldman Sachs, where there are grounds to do so.”

Lim said the conduct of other banks involved in 1MDB’s transactions would also be looked into.

“We’ve got to see the nexus, whether they were at fault.”

Lim said his ministry was investigating several “highly suspicious” deals made by former prime minister Najib Razak’s administration to determine if they were carried out to help pay 1MDB’s dues.

He declined to identify the deals, but said Malaysia was investigating Felda’s US$500 million acquisition of a non-controlling stake in Indonesia’s PT Eagle High Plantations Tbh, Reuters reported.

He did not say if the Felda deal, which was criticised for being expensive, was linked to 1MDB.

The government will have to pay an estimated RM50 billion ringgit in debts and interest accumulated by 1MDB.

“We are forced to pay that much against our will,” Lim said. – June 11, 2018.