Ex-Goldman Sachs banker convicted of bribery and money laundering for role in $4.5 billion fraudulent plot 1MDB
- Ex-banker Roger Ng, 49, was found guilty of three counts in connection with a
1MDB fund scandal. - US authorities have spent years trying to press charges for fraud.
US authorities sentenced a former
AP and other media first reported the story.
Roger Ng, who worked as an investment manager for Goldman Sachs, faces up to 30 years in prison after a US jury found him guilty on three counts: conspiracy to violate US anti- corruption, conspiracy to launder money, and conspiracy to circumvent Goldman’s internal accounting controls.
Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Kenneth A. Polite, said in a press release on Friday, “Roger Ng participated in a massive corruption and money laundering scheme involving the
He added, “This lawsuit demonstrates the Department of Justice’s commitment to prosecuting and holding accountable those who engage in corruption and use our financial system to launder funds related to their illicit schemes.”
Ng was employed as a managing director by various Goldman subsidiaries and acted as an agent and employee of the bank from around 2005 to May 2014, the statement said. He was involved in the bank’s arrangement of the 1MDB bond deals, he added.
1MDB is a Malaysian state-owned and controlled fund established to pursue investment and development projects for the economic benefit of Malaysia and its people.
Prosecutors accused Ng of pocketing approximately $35 million in stolen 1MDB funds and attempting to cover his tracks by deleting email accounts. It was alleged that Ng, alongside Goldman bankers, raised $6.5 billion through bond sales and diverted $4.5 billion of it to themselves and their co-conspiracies through the through bribes and kickbacks, per AP.
Representatives for Ng did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment made outside of normal working hours.
During the trial, Ng’s attorney, Marc Agnifilo, told jurors that aside from the testimony of his former boss Tom Leissner, there was no evidence linking Ng to the 1MDB fraud.
In 2018, Leissner pleaded guilty to bribery of officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi. The 52-year-old was ordered to forfeit $43.7 million as part of his guilty plea and agreed to testify against Ng.
In 2020, Goldman’s Malaysian subsidiary pleaded guilty to a bribery charge, and Goldman reached a settlement of up to $3.9 billion with Malaysia and paid a record $2.9 billion in a global settlement , according to the press release.
U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement, “The Department of Justice and this office are committed to addressing corporate culture by vigorously combating white-collar crime and holding accountable corrupt individuals who seek to enrich themselves for breaking U.S. laws at home and abroad.”
He added: “With today’s verdict, a powerful message has been delivered to those who commit financial crimes motivated by greed.”