Deloitte reaches $80m settlement in Malaysia over 1MDB claims

Deloitte agreed to a 324-million ringgit ($80m) settlement with the Malaysian government to resolve all claims related to the firm’s audit of 1MDB and its former unit SRC International between 2011-2014.

The payout is the largest 1MDB-related settlement by an audit firm in Southeast Asia, the finance ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. It comes less than a week after a local lender agreed to a 2.83-billion ringgit settlement over its involvement in transactions related to the state investment company.

“This marks another success in the Malaysian government’s continuing recovery efforts against parties involved in 1MDB, SRC and its related entities,” finance minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said in the statement.

The settlement served to resolve all claims related to their fiduciary duty in auditing the accounts of 1MDB and SRC International.

Malaysia in 2019 imposed the maximum fine on Deloitte PLT for breaches related to a bond issuance by 1MDB, becoming the first auditor of the scandal-ridden fund to face penalties. The fund was started to lure investments to the country, but instead became the centre of worldwide probes into possible corruption and money-laundering.

Goldman Sachs in 2020 admitted its role in the biggest foreign bribery case in US enforcement history, reaching multiple international settlements in the billions of dollars to end probes into its fundraising for 1MDB.

The accord with Deloitte will speed up the payment of monies to meet 1MDB and SRC’s outstanding obligations, which would otherwise be delayed by lengthy and costly court battles, the ministry said.

The pacts won’t affect Malaysia’s claims against individuals such as fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho and other related parties, the ministry said. The individuals are still being pursued in relation to the 1MDB scandal, it added.

“The government is determined to ensure that appropriate actions are taken against all individuals or entities involved, directly or indirectly, in the global 1MDB scheme,” said Zafrul.

Bloomberg