1MDB scandal: Ex-Goldman Malaysia boss found guilty

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."

What is the 1MDB scandal about?

The charges stemmed from bond deals that Goldman helped arrange in 2012 and 2013 that raised $6.5bn (£5bn) for the 1MDB fund, which was founded to finance public development projects.

Authorities say more than $4bn was stolen and spent on art, diamonds and property - even helping to finance Hollywood's Wolf of Wall Street film.

Prosecutors said Goldman Sachs bankers helped to arrange laundering of some of the money, some of which was paid as bribes to officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi to help win business for the bank.

Prosecutors said 49-year-old Mr Ng was central to the scheme, introducing Mr Leissner to Chinese-Malaysian financier Jho Low, the alleged mastermind and a confidant of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

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Jho Low was indicted alongside Ng in 2018 but remains at large.

They told the court that Mr Ng, who worked for Goldman from 2005 to May 2014, received $35m in kickbacks for his role.

Mr Ng's team had claimed the payment was part of a legitimate business deal involving his wife.

His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, also gave the court accounts of Mr Leissner's deceit, calling him a "double bigamist" for twice being married to two women at the same time. He previously admitted forging divorce papers to marry an analyst at the bank while still married to his first wife.

Mr Ng, who could be sentenced to decades in prison, may appeal, Mr Agnifilo said.

In 2020, Goldman reached a $3.9bn settlement with the Malaysian government for its role in the multi-billion-dollar corruption scheme.

It also paid nearly $3bn to authorities in four countries to end an investigation into work it performed for 1MDB.

The same year, Malaysia's former Prime Minister Najib Razak was sentenced to 12 years in jail after he was found guilty of abusing his power, laundering money and breaching the public's trust. He remains free pending an appeal in Malaysian court.