The former head of Goldman Sachs in Malaysia has been convicted for helping to orchestrate one of the world’s biggest financial corruption scandals.
A US jury found Roger Ng guilty on all charges in the trial, which concerned the looting of billions of dollars from Malaysia’s 1MDB sovereign wealth fund.
He is the only Goldman Sachs banker to face a jury over the scandal, which rocked Malaysian politics and forced the bank to pay billions in fines.
He had pleaded not guilty.
Mr Ng’s lawyer said he was a “fall guy “and attacked the credibility of the government’s star witness, Tim Leissner, who was Mr Ng’s boss at Goldman Sachs and pleaded guilty to his role in the scandal in 2018.
But after a nearly two-month trial and several days of deliberation, the jury in New York convicted Mr Ng of conspiring to launder money and violating an anti-corruption law.
US prosecutors said the decision was “a victory for not only the rule of law, but also for the people of Malaysia”.
“The defendant and his cronies saw 1MDB not as an entity to do good for the people of Malaysia, but as a piggy bank to enrich themselves with piles of money siphoned from the fund,” said US Attorney Breon Peace.
“With today’s verdict, a powerful message has been delivered to those who commit financial crimes motivated by greed. You will be caught, prosecuted and convicted, like Ng, and face a long prison sentence.”
Source: fbcnews.com.fj
