Malaysia police seek 1MDB documents from Goldman's lawyer

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia's police have asked law firms to turn over documents related to 1MDB bond sales that Goldman Sachs Group arranged, as part of an investigation involving the US lender.

Police have raided Rahma t Lim & Partners, the law firm that represented Goldman in the deals, on Thursday morning to search for the documents, The Edge newspaper reported, citing a person it didn't identify. Saiful Azly Kamaruddin, acting director for the police's commercial crime investigation department, confirmed the raid.

Rahmat Lim & Partners, which acted as Malaysian legal counsel for Goldman in support of an unnamed UK law firm, confirmed that the police came to their offices and said it had already given the police documents that weren't subject to attorney-client privilege, it said in an emailed statement late Thursday.

"We have provided our fullest cooperation to the police, and remain fully committed to cooperating with them, within the confines of the law," they said in the note.

Goldman Sachs is facing its first criminal charges related to its role in arranging US$6.5 billion for the scandal-plagued state investment fund 1MDB. Malaysian prosecutors alleged that the bank misled investors in the three bond sales while knowing the money raised would be misappropriated. The bank has said it will vigorously defend against the allegations.

Investigators obtained a court order to raid Rahmat Lim & Partners after the firm refused to hand over the requested documents, according to The Edge. Wong & Partners, which represented 1MDB in the deals, had already provided documents to the police, the report said.

A spokeswoman for Wong & Partners said they don't comment on ongoing investigations, as per their policy.

BLOOMBERG