1MDB scandal: former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng returning to US to face charges
- Ng, who left Goldman Sachs in the spring of 2014, has been detained in Kuala Lumpur since November 1
- Goldman Sachs itself is being investigated by Malaysian authorities and the US Department of Justice
Roger Ng, a former Goldman Sachs banker caught up in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fraud scandal, will be allowed to return to the US to face criminal charges against him there, a Malaysian court ruled on Friday.
Ng has been detained in Kuala Lumpur since November 1, shortly after the US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced charges against him for allegedly laundering funds siphoned off from the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund. He left Goldman Sachs in 2014.
Ng had agreed to waive extradition and would be sent to the US pending an order from the Malaysian home affairs ministry, judge Edwin Paramjothy Michael Muniandy said in a Kuala Lumpur court on Friday.
His lawyer, Tan Hock Chuan, asked for the order to be issued within 30 days. It must be issued within three months under Malaysian law. Ng had reached an agreement with the DoJ on bail and other terms, Tan said.
“The respondent intends to defend the case on its merits in the court of the Eastern District of New York, the United States,” Tan told the court.
Marc Agnifilo, Ng’s New York-based lawyer, said before the hearing that his client intended to plead not guilty when he appeared in a US federal court.