The amount of compensation offered by Goldman Sachs to settle its 1MDB-linked case with Malaysia was "little", said Dr Mahathir Mohamad today.

"They did offer some little compensation. (It was) not enough," he said during an interview with Bloomberg Asia aired live on its Facebook page today.

"They offered a billion ringgit," Mahathir said when asked to clarify what he meant by "little compensation".

The premier said the government had wanted to settle its case with the bank out of court.

The bank, however, seems "unwilling to offer a reasonable sum of money", he said.

Goldman Sachs is currently being investigated by the Malaysian authorities and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) for underwriting and arranging three bond sales that raised US$6.5 billion for the now beleaguered 1MDB.

The Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court has set this Monday for the pretrial hearing date for a criminal case against the company.

When asked what would be the reasonable amount in terms of compensation the bank should pay, Mahathir said the government wanted the return of the 10 percent commission Goldman Sachs charged for the 1MDB deals.

He said the company had made a fortune by charging a 10 percent commission in addition to a six percent interest rate.

"Goldman Sachs took a 10 percent commission in addition to a hefty interest rate of six percent.

"That's not usual for government. Governments normally get less than three percent. But this 10 percent extra that goes to Goldman Sachs means that we get 90 percent of the money raised, but we pay interest of a 100 percent

"I think Goldman Sachs made quite a huge killing in this case," he said.