This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on December 11, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: The government will be pursuing legal action against Goldman Sachs Group Inc following its involvement in the financial scandal of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

“We are definitely going to take action; there is no dispute [over that] already. But I think the legal steps and procedures ... we will leave it to the Attorney-General (A-G),” Guan Eng told the press at the Parliament lobby here yesterday.

“Definitely, we are going to take action. But as to the extent of the legal process, the best person to ask will be the A-G,” Guan Eng added.

Early last month, Goldman Sachs was sued by International Petroleum Investment Co, which announced it had filed a lawsuit in New York against the investment bank for having played what it described as a “central role” in the 1MDB scandal, causing it “significant financial exposure and losses”.

The 1MDB case, in which billions of ringgit had allegedly been siphoned for personal gains, is being investigated in at least six countries, including the US and Malaysia.

Malaysia has started taking legal action against those allegedly involved, including former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. However, Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho (Jho Low), described by US prosecutors as a central figure in the 1MDB saga and has been charged in absentia in Malaysia for money laundering offences in relation to the case, is still evading arrest.