Ex-Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng pleads not guilty to 1MDB charges in New York
- Ng is accused of conspiring to launder money and bribe officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi and was released on US$20 million bail
- Originally jailed in Kuala Lumpur, he was extradited to the US on Friday
Former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng pleaded not guilty to criminal charges linked to a multibillion-dollar scandal at the Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB in an appearance at federal court in New York on Monday.
The US Department of Justice accused 46-year-old Ng last year of conspiring to launder money and bribe government officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi through bond offerings that Goldman Sachs handled. He was extradited on May 3 to New York from Kuala Lumpur, where he had been jailed since November.
US Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo, of US District Court in Brooklyn, New York, allowed Ng, who is from Malaysia, to be released in exchange for a US$20 million bond. He was fitted for an ankle bracelet, and will be staying at an undisclosed location in the New York City area that the court approved.
His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said he convinced Ng to “come to the US and face the music” because it was evident that prosecutors were not going to drop the case, and his client had become very ill. Ng appears to have lost weight, based on photos of him before his arrest.
“He was in a very difficult situation,” Agnifilo told reporters. Being detained in New York “is better than a Malaysian jail”, he added.