Malaysia Extradites Former Goldman Sachs Banker Linked to 1MDB Scandal

Malaysia has extradited former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng to the United States to face criminal charges linked to a multibillion-dollar scandal at state fund 1MDB.

Ng, who departed from Goldman Sachs in 2014, has been held in Kuala Lumpur since November. Among the charges lodged against him are allegedly laundering funds diverted from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund.

“Ng had agreed to be sent to the United States, but the proceedings were delayed after Malaysia’s home minister said he should first face criminal charges in the Southeast Asian nation,” reported the New York Post. “Following negotiations, the two countries have agreed for Ng to be temporarily surrendered to the United States for 10 months and for the US case against him to proceed first, Malaysia’s attorney general, Tommy Thomas, said in a statement. Ng was sent to the United States on May 3 and will be returned to Malaysia to face charges as soon as the US proceedings are concluded.”

“Ng, 47, who left the investment bank and financial services company in 2014, was slapped with a provisional warrant of arrest in late October by the DOJ, which had sought Malaysia’s help to locate him,” noted Straitstimes.com. “Ng was arrested in November by the Malaysian authorities and was charged in a Malaysian court with four counts of abetting Goldman Sachs in selling US$6 billion of notes and bonds issued by 1MDB by omitting material information and publishing untrue information. He is wanted by the DOJ to face charges in a New York federal court that he helped his former boss, Tim Liessner, to launder money and bribe government officials as part of Goldman Sachs’ work for 1MDB.”

Late last week, Bloomberg reported that American officials were preparing to return about $200 million of funds allegedly misappropriated from troubled state fund 1MDB to Malaysia, citing people familiar with the matter.

“The total includes about $140 million from the sale of a stake in New York’s Park Lane Hotel and some $60 million from a settlement paid by the producer of the “Wolf of Wall Street” movie, said two of the people, who asked not to be named as the details are private. The transfer could happen as soon as next week, they said,” Bloomberg noted.

Ng’s lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, “said he convinced Ng to “come to the U.S. 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,” Reuters reported. “He was in a very difficult situation,” Agnifilo told reporters. Being detained in New York “is better than a Malaysian jail,” he added.”