1MDB trial: ex-Goldman banker Roger Ng convicted in US on corruption charge

Prosecutors say Ng helped embezzle millions of dollars from Malaysia’s state fund in one of the biggest financial scandals in history

He is the first, and probably the only, person to face trial in the United States over the scheme

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Ex-Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng (centre) and his lawyer Marc Agnifilo (right) leave federal court in New York in May 2019. Photo: Reuters

Published: 12:15am, 9 Apr 2022Updated: 1:23pm, 9 Apr 2022

Former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng was convicted by a US jury on Friday of corruption charges related to his role in helping loot hundreds of millions of dollars from Malaysia’s 1MDB development fund.

The charges stemmed from one of the biggest financial scandals in history. Prosecutors charged Ng, Goldman’s former top investment banker for Malaysia, for conspiring to violate an anti-corruption law and launder money.

They said he helped his former boss Tim Leissner embezzle money from the fund, launder the proceeds and bribe officials to win business for Goldman.

Ng, 49, had pleaded not guilty to the charges. His lawyers say Leissner, who pleaded guilty to similar charges in 2018 and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors’ investigation, falsely implicated Ng in the hopes of receiving a lenient sentence.

Tim Leissner, former chairman of Southeast Asia for Goldman Sachs Inc., leaves court in New York in February. Photo: Bloomberg

The fund was founded to pursue development projects in the Southeast Asian country.