KUALA LUMPUR (March 20): A government backbencher has called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to be established to investigate the settlement agreement signed in August 2020 between the Perikatan Nasional-led administration and Goldman Sachs Inc in the recovery of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) assets.

Describing the agreement as "scandalous", Chong Zhemin (PH-Kampar) questioned why the settlement agreement could have been struck, allowing Goldman Sachs to make a payment of only US$2.5 billion out of the initially agreed US$3.9 billion.

"Why didn't the government insert a fixed amount of US$3.9 billion in the agreement and allow Goldman Sachs to take advantage by refusing to pay US$1.4 billion?" Chong asked during the supplementary supply debate session in Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday.

On July 24, 2020, Goldman Sachs and the Malaysian government reached a settlement agreement, wherein Goldman Sachs agreed to pay US$3.9 billion to settle Malaysia's criminal probe over its role in the scandal.

According to Goldman Sachs, the agreement in principle would involve the payment of US$2.5 billion to the Malaysian government and a guarantee that the government receives at least US$1.4 billion in proceeds from assets related to 1MDB seized by governmental authorities around the world.

However, the parties are now in disagreement over the settlement, particularly regarding Goldman Sachs' obligation to make an interim payment of US$250 million if Malaysia did not receive at least US$500 million in assets and proceeds from the firm by August 2022.

Goldman Sachs sued Malaysia in a British court in October last year, alleging that the Malaysian government breached its obligations by failing to properly credit assets against the guarantee provided by Goldman Sachs in the settlement agreement and to recover other assets worth US$1.4 billion.

Malaysia has denied the allegations of breaching the settlement deal and has accused Goldman Sachs of attempting to offset 1MDB fines and settlements recovered from other institutions, such as AmBank and Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC), against the $1.4 billion sum.

Chong alleged that the agreement’s lack of clarity allowed Goldman Sachs to avoid fully fulfilling the US$1.4 billion guarantee it had promised Malaysia for the recovery of 1MDB assets.

He also asserted that the former premier Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who was in power when the deal was signed, should be held fully accountable.

Placing a RM10 mil bounty on Jho Low

Meanwhile, Chong also proposed that the government offer a bounty of RM10 million for the arrest of fugitive Low Taek Jho (Jho Low).

Chong emphasised that only with Low's arrest can there be full disclosure of the 1MDB scandal.

"If the United States could track down Osama bin Laden after a decade, I believe it is not impossible for us to find Jho Low. Only then can we uncover the truth behind the 1MDB scandal," Chong said.