KUALA LUMPUR – Former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng has successfully postponed the start of his 10-year prison sentence relating to the global 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) corruption scandal.
According to Bloomberg, US district judge Margo Brodie, who sentenced Ng for his role in the massive financial fraud, had yesterday granted his request for a delay.
The judge reportedly did not provide an explanation for her decision, which will see Ng beginning his prison term on August 7 instead of May 4.
On April 29, Ng’s defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo applied to the court on Friday seeking a delay in the prison sentence, explaining that Ng wishes to spend time with his family, especially his 10-year-old daughter whom he has not seen since his arrest in Malaysia in 2018.
Agnifilo said then that the requested time was also to allow for Ng’s wife and child to travel from Malaysia to the US.
He also argued that besides never having violated the conditions of his release, Ng was on house arrest and electronic monitoring since he was granted a US$20 million (RM89.2 million) bail by a federal magistrate in Brooklyn in May 2019.
Previously in March, 51-year-old Ng was convicted of conspiring to violate US anti-bribery laws and taking part in a money-laundering scheme involving 1MDB, following testimony from Tim Leissner, another former Goldman Sachs banker and co-conspirator.
During his trial, Ng had claimed that his former boss Leissner and Malaysian fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, were responsible for the multi-billion dollar fraud.
Brodie had also rejected Ng’s claims that he was unable to forfeit US$35.1 million (RM155.4 million) as the Malaysian government had taken “all of his money,” adding that the amount imposed is “not constitutionally excessive.” – The Vibes, May 2, 2023
