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Former Goldman banker Roger Ng found guilty in 1MDB fraud trial

A US grand jury has indicted former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng in connection with a multi-billion dollar 1MDB embezzlement case, handing prosecutors a high win in a resounding scandal. from Malaysia and Singapore to Wall Street.

After a nearly two-month trial and four days of deliberations, jurors on Friday found Ng, 49, guilty of all three counts in the case, including conspiracy to violate anti-bribery laws U.S. exposure and money laundering conspiracy. He faces up to 30 years in prison.

The conviction is a landmark victory for US authorities, who have spent years suing a fraud-related case in which the US Department of Justice alleges 4.5 billion dollars was appropriated from the Malaysian state investment fund.

“The verdict is: Roger Ng is guilty, convicted of all three counts,” the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said on its official Twitter account.

Ng, his former boss Tim Leissner and Malaysian financier Low Jho, all charged by the DoJ. Leissner has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing, while Low has maintained his innocence.

The government argues that Ng is an important link for 1MDB and Low.

As a former Goldman investment banker in Malaysia and later a member of Asia’s securities division, Ng was involved in arranging the bank’s 1MDB bond transactions.

According to US authorities, the Wall Street bank arranged three transactions in 2012 and 2013, raising about $6.5 billion, some of which was appropriated to give bribes to officials in the United States. Malaysia and Abu Dhabi.

The stolen money is used to buy expensive works of art, luxury real estate and even to finance The Wolf of Wall StreetOscar-nominated film about financial hardship, among other things.

The government accused Ng, who did not testify during the trial, pocketed about $35 million in stolen 1MDB funds and tried to cover his tracks by deleting his entire email account.

Marc Agnifilo, Ng’s attorney, argued that his client had nothing to do with the payment, which he said was related to an investment unrelated to his wife.

The trial was reinforced by a tense battle of wits between Ng and Leissner, a former Goldman partner pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money and violations of foreign bribery laws related to 1MDB. Leissner later became the main government witness in Ng’s trial.

Leissner signed a cooperation agreement with US authorities in the hope of receiving a more lenient punishment. He faces 25 years in prison when convicted.

During the trial, Agnifilo told jurors that there was no evidence linking Ng to the 1MDB fraud other than Leissner’s testimony, which he said included inaccuracies. He repeatedly questioned Leissner’s credibility, calling him a “one-of-a-kind” liar and listing untrue things Leissner had told his partners, Goldman, and the administration. USA.

Goldman, which has collected more than $600 million in fees from 1MDB bond transactions, said it was misled by “several members of the former Malaysian government and 1MDB”.

The bank made a $3.9 billion settlement with Malaysia and paid a record $2.9 billion in a global settlement in 2020. Its Malaysian subsidiary has pleaded guilty to bribery. revealed.

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