A FORMER Goldman Sachs compliance executive told a New York court yesterday that Roger Ng had recommended fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho as a private wealth client in 2009, but “advised caution”, Bloomberg reports.

Patrick Kidney, a prosecution witness, testified that Ng, a former Goldman banker, advised bank compliance to not accept Low’s claims on the size and source of his wealth “at face value”.

In proceedings, prosecutors showed the jury six months of compliance efforts vetting Low. The report stated that the bank rejected the businessman in June 2010 after internal red flags.

The Bloomberg report further quoted Kidney as saying that the compliance team met with Low a few times between January and June 2010, with “negative feedback”.

Low was reportedly unable to explain the source of his wealth, submitting letters of recommendation that could not be verified and that “appeared to be written by the same person”.

Ng, 49, is charged with conspiring with Tim Leissner and Low to launder money embezzled from 1Malaysia Development Bhd, and violate US anti-bribery laws. He is the only former Goldman banker to go on trial in the scandal. – March 11, 2022.