Johari remains 1MDB Task Force chairman

PUTRAJAYA – Titiwangsa Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani remains as 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) Task Force chairman despite being appointed as the new Plantation and Commodities Minister.

"InsyaAllah, for now, I am still (the chairman)," he said when met by reporters after clocking in at the ministry's lobby on Wednesday.

Also present were Deputy Minister Datuk Chang Foong Hin and senior officials of the ministry.

Asked whether his position would be replaced by another individual after this, Johari said:

"Whoever dares to, do it," he said.

Johari led the team since last March to resolve several issues involving the 1MDB scandal, especially related to the government's claim against the Goldman Sachs Group worth US$2.5 billion.

In the meantime, Johari said the claim against Goldman Sachs on behalf of the government had been completed and was at the stage of monitoring the progress.

"They still don't want to make the first payment of US$250 million because they reason every settlement we made through Ambank and the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) as one of asset recovery but it is not.

"It is not actually included in the concept of rehabilitation.

"Recovery is when we look for things (assets) out there that have been lost through 1MDB," he said.

In 2020, Goldman Sachs agreed to pay US$3.9 billion to settle Malaysia's criminal investigation into the United States (US) investment bank's role in the 1MDB fund scandal involving billions of dollars.

Malaysian and US authorities estimated that US$4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB through an elaborate scheme that spanned the globe involving the former Prime Minister of Malaysia Datuk Seri Najib Razak, high-level officials in the fund, Goldman staff and others.

The Attorney General's Chambers filed a reply to the Registrar of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) regarding the application for arbitration of the implementation of the agreement between the Malaysian government, 1MDB and Goldman Sachs.

Meanwhile, on the direction of the ministry, Johari said, he would strengthen relations with industry players in the plantation and commodity sectors.

"All industries are involved with this ministry and I will have regular meetings with them," he said.

In addition, he said all existing policies and plans of the ministry would continue.

"They have done a good job because when I look at the ministry's website, everything is very comprehensive," he said.