US trial begins for ex-Goldman Sachs banker accused in 1MDB scandal
Opening statements are expected to take place on Monday in the US corruption trial of a former Goldman Sachs banker charged with helping to launder hundreds of millions of dollars looted from Malaysia’s 1MDB sovereign wealth fund.
Roger Ng, Goldman’s former head of investment banking in Malaysia, stands accused of conspiring to launder money and to violate an anti-bribery law. He has pleaded not guilty and Ng’s lawyer has called him a “fall guy” for one of the biggest financial scandals in Wall Street history.
The trial in Brooklyn federal court could last up to six weeks.
Prosecutors are likely to argue that Ng helped two co-conspirators – his former boss, Timothy Leissner, and Malaysian intermediary Jho Low –launder funds embezzled from 1MDB and used some of the stolen money to bribe officials in the country to win business for Goldman.
Leissner, a former partner for Goldman Sachs in Asia, in 2018 pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money, and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), in part by helping to pay $1.6bn in bribes. He is expected to testify as a government witness against Ng.
Ng’s defense is expected to argue that he had no role in the scheme perpetrated by Low and Leissner, and that he even warned Goldman management not to trust Low. Ng’s defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo has said Leissner falsely implicated Ng in the scheme in an effort to minimize his punishment.
Leissner has not yet been sentenced.
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