KUALA LUMPUR – Penang-born financier Low Taek Jho is not to be trusted, former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng told his ex-bosses, according to a US filing in a bid for the bribery case against him to be dropped.
Ng will face trial next year on charges of bribery and money laundering, relating to the embezzlement of US$2.7 billion (RM11.05 billion) from 1Malaysia Development Bhd.
In his 126-page filing, Ng said he should not be prosecuted because the alleged acts were committed in Malaysia, reported Bloomberg.
He also said his former boss, Tim Leissner, was the central figure in the scheme, as the latter had persuaded the investment bank to enter business dealings with Low, better known as Jho Low.
“Ng’s warnings were shared with the highest levels of the compliance and legal divisions of the company. The company did not listen to him,” lawyer Marc Agnifilo was quoted as saying in the filing.
Authorities have declined to comment on the filing.
Leissner will testify against Ng, who is currently out on bail.
The fugitive Low, seen to be one of the masterminds behind the massive 1MDB scandal, is wanted in Malaysia for several offences, including money laundering.
In October, Goldman Sachs agreed to pay US$2.9 billion to settle the 1MDB case involving its Malaysian subsidiary.
The bank pleaded not guilty and agreed to a deferred prosecution with the US Department of Justice, which said the company will owe US$2.3 billion in penalties, plus US$606 million in forfeiture of gains.
Excluding payments made to authorities in Britain, Singapore and Hong Kong, as well as the US Federal Reserve and Securities and Exchange Commission, the bank will pay US$1.26 billion to the Treasury.
Goldman Sachs helped raise US$6.5 billion for 1MDB, and DoJ has said more than US$4.5 billion was stolen from the fund by its high-level officials and their associates between 2009 and 2015.
Putrajaya dropped the charges against Goldman Sachs in July after reaching a US$3.9 billion settlement with the financial giant.
Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment after the Kuala Lumpur High Court found him guilty of diverting an estimated RM42 million from 1MDB unit SRC International Sdn Bhd. He is appealing the decision.
The SRC International case is one of three against Najib. The other two trials are over 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.6 billion from 1MDB, and abuse of power and a cover-up in relation to a 1MDB audit report. – The Vibes, November 24, 2020
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