Ex-Goldman banker convicted in 1MDB corruption case -

Prosecutors say Roger Ng, Goldman’s former prime funding banker for Malaysia, helped his former boss Tim Leissner embezzle cash from the fund — which was based to pursue growth initiatives within the Southeast Asian nation — launder the proceeds and bribe officers to win enterprise for Goldman.

Ng, 49, has pleaded not responsible to conspiring to launder cash and violating an anti-corruption regulation. His attorneys say Leissner, who pleaded responsible to comparable costs in 2018 and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors’ investigation, falsely implicated Ng within the hopes of receiving a lenient sentence.

The jury convicted Ng of two counts of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and one depend of conspiracy to commit cash laundering.

Deliberations started on Tuesday after an almost two-month trial in federal court docket in Brooklyn.

The costs stemmed from one of many greatest monetary scandals in historical past.

Prosecutors have mentioned Goldman helped 1MDB increase $6.5 billion by three bond gross sales, however that $4.5 billion was diverted to authorities officers, bankers and their associates by bribes and kickbacks between 2009 and 2015.

Ng is the primary, and certain solely, particular person to face trial within the United States over the scheme. Goldman (GS) in 2020 paid an almost $three billion high quality and its Malaysian unit agreed to plead responsible.

Jurors heard 9 days of testimony from Leissner, who mentioned he despatched Ng $35 million in kickbacks. Leissner mentioned the lads agreed to inform banks a “cover story” that the cash was from a reliable enterprise enterprise between their wives.

Ng’s spouse, Hwee Bin Lim, later testified for the protection that the enterprise enterprise was, the truth is, reliable. She mentioned she invested $6 million within the mid-2000s in a Chinese firm owned by the household of Leissner’s then-wife, Judy Chan, and that the $35 million was her return on that funding.

Ng’s lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, mentioned in his closing argument on Monday that Leissner couldn’t be trusted. Alixandra Smith, a prosecutor, mentioned in her summation that Leissner’s testimony was backed up by different proof.

Jho Low, a Malaysian financier and suspected mastermind of the scheme, was indicted alongside Ng in 2018 however stays at massive.