Ng loses bid to overturn US court's 1MDB conviction

Former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng has failed to overturn a United States court decision that sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment for helping loot billions of dollars from 1MDB.

According to a Bloomberg report, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan, New York, on Friday rejected Ng’s appeal, which claimed an unfair trial.

The Malaysian banker argued that the trial against him was unfair because the judge blocked jurors from hearing a key recording, that the government had broken an agreement with him in which he had waived extradition from Malaysia and that the case shouldn’t have been tried in Brooklyn.

“We find none of his contentions persuasive,” judge Amalya Kearse was quoted as saying.

The report also stated that Ng’s lawyer did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the ruling.

In March 2023, Ng, formerly Goldman’s head of investment banking in Malaysia, was convicted by a court in Brooklyn, New York and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

US jurors had found him guilty of helping his former boss at Goldman, Tim Leissner, to embezzle money from 1MDB, launder the proceeds, and bribe government officials to win business.

In October 2023, he was temporarily sent back to Malaysia to assist with investigations and would be required to begin his prison term upon returning to the US.

At present, Ng is still in the country.

The Putrajaya High Court ruled in April this year that Ng may be called as a witness and testify in the 1MDB trial involving former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, notwithstanding the existence of a restrictive order issued by a US court.

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