Roger Ng expected to touch down in M’sia at midnight: Saifuddin

Former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng is expected to touch down in Malaysia at midnight tonight to face charges related to the scandal-ridden 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) sovereign wealth fund.

According to a report by Utusan Malaysia, Malaysian national Ng’s arrival was confirmed by Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail today.

“If there are no obstacles, he will arrive in our country today, at midnight,” he reportedly told press members at Program Menyemai Kasih Rakyat in Pos Kuala Mu in Sungai Siput, Perak.

Saifuddin was quoted as saying that the duration that Ng (above, right) will be staying in the country depends on the investigation process.

Further, he said the government’s focus is on asset recovery and will leave the investigations to the enforcement agencies.

“It is to my knowledge because most of the agencies or institutions involved, apart from the attorney-general, are agencies under the Home Ministry,” he said.

According to a report by Reuters yesterday, Chief US District judge Margo Brodie in Brooklyn ordered Ng’s surrender to the US Marshals Service by Friday so he could be turned over to Malaysian law enforcement, who would then be transporting him here.

Ng was arrested in Malaysia in November 2018 and agreed to be extradited to the US.

He is already facing 10 years in prison after being convicted in New York of helping loot billions of dollars from 1MDB and would be required to begin his prison term upon returning to the US.

Ng was formerly Goldman’s head of investment banking in Malaysia and was sentenced in March, 11 months after jurors found him guilty of helping former Goldman boss Tim Leissner to embezzle money from 1MDB, launder the proceeds, and bribe government officials to win business.

The case involves some US$6.5 billion in bonds that Goldman helped 1MDB sell in 2012 and 2013.

US prosecutors said officials, bankers, and their associates embezzled about US$4.5 billion of that sum.

Leissner’s sentencing is now scheduled for March 19, 2024, while fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, alleged to be the mastermind behind the theft of funds, is still on the run.

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