Goldman Sachs bankers 'cheated' Malaysia over 1MDB, Mahathir says

SINGAPORE - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Wednesday bankers at Goldman Sachs Group Inc "cheated" the country in dealings with state fund 1MDB and that US authorities have promised to help return the fees the Wall Street bank earned from the fund.

The US investment bank has been under scrutiny for its role in helping raise funds through bond offerings for 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), which is the subject of corruption and money-laundering investigations in at least 6 countries.

Goldman's stock fell to a near 2-year low on Monday after Malaysian Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said his country would seek a "full refund" of the around $600 million in fees the bank earned from raising $6.5 billion for the fund. The stock eased 0.5 percent on Tuesday.

A Goldman Sachs spokesman on Monday said in an email to Reuters that the bank denied any wrongdoing.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has said about $4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB, including some money that Goldman Sachs helped raise, by high-level officials of the fund and their associates from 2009 through 2014.

US prosecutors filed criminal charges against 2 former Goldman Sachs bankers earlier this month. One of them, Tim Leissner, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

"There is evidence that Goldman Sachs has done things that are wrong," Mahathir said in an interview with US news channel CNBC aired on Tuesday.

"Obviously we have been cheated through the compliance by Goldman Sachs people," he said, without specifying details.

The bank's compliance controls "don't work very well", he added.

A second Goldman Sachs spokesman in Hong Kong declined to comment on Mahathir's comments in the interview.

Asked by reporters later in Singapore if he had officially requested the DOJ to help return money that Goldman earned from 1MDB, Mahathir said: "It takes a little bit of time but they (DOJ) have promised that they will give back the money." He was speaking on the sidelines of a summit in Singapore.

A DOJ spokeswoman said the United States continued to pursue justice with respect to its 1MDB investigations. Whenever possible, recovered assets would be used to "benefit the people" harmed by corruption and abuse of office, she added.

Anwar Ibrahim, appointed successor to 93-year-old Mahathir, told parliament on Tuesday that Malaysia needed to take "more aggressive measures" to reclaim the fees and losses due to the harm the scandal had done to the country's image.

Finance Minister Lim told reporters the country would seek consequential losses as well as the return of fees.

"The Malaysian government will want to reclaim all the fees paid, as well as all the losses including the interest rate differential," Lim told reporters. He said the rate Malaysia had paid was about 100 basis points higher than the market rate.

Critics have said the fees earned by Goldman Sachs were far in excess of the normal 1-2 percent a bank could expect for helping sell bonds.

Goldman has said the outsized fees related to additional risks: it bought the unrated bonds while it sought investors and, in the case of a 2013 bond deal which raised $2.7 billion, 1MDB wanted the funds quickly.

Citing sources, Reuters reported in June that Malaysia was considering asking the DOJ to get Goldman Sachs to return the fees it had earned from the 1MDB deals.

The 1MDB scandal was a major reason for former premier Najib Razak's shock election loss in May. He has been charged with corruption over the scandal and has pleaded not guilty.

Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, described by US and Malaysian authorities as central to the 1MDB fraud, was charged by US prosecutors this month. He remains at large.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Gardenia denies collusion with flour millers

MANILA - Gardenia Bakeries has denied that there is collusion between bakers and flour millers amid an investigation on why bread prices have not declined despite lower flour prices.

Gardenia said it can't reduce bread prices because "the reported decline in the prices of wheat from the world market has not been reflected in the prices of flour in the Philippines."

The firm also said competition is tougher now because some bakeries are owned by flour milling companies who may have access to cheaper flour.

"The baking industry is also faced now with increased competition with bakeries owned by flour milling companies who might have immediate access to preferential prices from their own flour mills," Gardenia said in a statement.

"There is no collusion between bakers and flour millers as mentioned in some news reports," it added.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) suspected that bakers and flour millers have violated the Price Act for failing to reduce prices amid a 30 percent decline in wheat prices in the world market starting January.

DTI said the results of the investigation will be turned over to the National Bureau of Investigation.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

How Julia Montes lost weight

MANILA - Actress Julia Montes admitted that she once tried crash dieting to lose weight. However, she has since realized that the key to a fit and healthy body is to eat the right food.

Appearing on "Kris TV" on Thursday, Montes even said she doesn't even work out.

"Siguro nag-work sa akin kasi hindi ko na siya kina-crash diet. Then hindi na napi-pressure 'yung body ko na 'naku kailangan bawas' or minsan kakain, din babawi, hindi kakain, then babawi. May ganoong factor before," Montes said.

"Ngayon nagra-rice ako at nagluluto ako. Ang tambayan ko na nga eh kitchen," says Montes, who is now into baking.

Montes said that as an actress she was affected by comments about her weight, especially since she has chubby cheeks.

"Siguro natatakot 'yung ibang kasama ko na baka daw magpakagutom na ako. Kasi before umaabot ako sa point na ang daming humuhusga sa cheeks ko, sa katawan ko, then sabi ko hindi ko talaga matatanggal 'yung hilig ko po talaga sa food," said Montes, who is hoping to take culinary studies someday.

Montes is now promoting her film "Halik Sa Hangin," which is already showing in cinemas nationwide.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Ara Mina gets back to baking

Last year, Ara Mina turned to a forgotten passion of her youth, one encouraged by her late grandmother. Surely, wherever her Lola is now, she couldn’t be more proud over the success of Ara’s Hazelberry cupcakes.

Long before she looked through rose-colored glasses and fell in love with show business, the teenage Ara Mina enjoyed spending time in the kitchen where she indulged her passion for the culinary arts. In particular, Ara loved to bake. It was a passion she shared with her Lola Sonya (Mathay), who passed away late last year.

“I took naman Pastry Lessons, this time at ISCAHM (International School for Culinary Arts and Hotel Management). Meron kasi kaming isang baking class that time. Ngayon, I took the full course in Pastry Baking,” she said.

Her grandmother who, for a while, had her own home-based business, encouraged Ara’s interest. Although she found baking an enjoyable activity and a stress reliever, there was a time when Ara had to put it aside in favor of other things.

Last year, she tried baking again, starting with a batch of Red Velvet cupcakes and offering them to friends. These friends, in turn, passed the word along to other friends. Orders started to come in until Ara finally decided that with so many orders coming in, it was high time to get serious and turn her hobby into a full-blown business. The first order of that business was to come up with a name to call it.

“Mostly, I was baking cupcakes, at dumami nang dumami ’yung mga orders, so I decided to put a name to it,” she said.

Now based in her home kitchen in Quezon City, the business is called Hazelberry Cupcakes—Hazel being Ara’s real name (she is Hazel Klenk Reyes in real life), and berry, a fruit commonly used for pies and cakes.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com