KUALA LUMPUR – Former Goldman Sachs bank officer Roger Ng, who was sentenced to ten years in prison in New York for helping to embezzle billions of ringgit from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) sovereign wealth fund, will be handed over to Malaysian authorities to face charges in this country.
Chief US District Judge Margo Brodie was reported by US media as having ordered Ng at a Brooklyn court to surrender to the US Marshals Service today so that he can be handed over to Malaysian law enforcement.
However, the prosecution in an earlier letter to Brodie had said that Ng was required to return to the US to serve his prison sentence and this was also agreed to by his lawyer.
According to reports, there is no response from Ng's lawyer yet when requested for comment.
According to the US Justice Department, Ng and his co-conspirators paid more than US$1 billion (RM4.52 billion) in bribes to government officials to secure three large bond transactions for Goldman with 1MDB.
He was sentenced to ten years in prison in March this year following his conviction last year.
In early September, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued lifetime prohibition orders (POs) against Ng, who is a former managing director of Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte.
Previously, 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, who presided over his trail, 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, October 6, 2023
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