A JURY in US Federal Court has returned a guilty verdict for former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng, determining that he did indeed to help loot hundreds of millions of dollars from sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Reuters reports.

The jury convicted Ng of two counts of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, having been convinced by prosecutors that Ng, who headed the bank’s operations in Malaysia, and his superior Tim Leissner embezzle money, launder the proceeds and bribe officials to win business for Goldman-Sachs.

The 49-year-old Ng had denied the charges, alleging that fellow conspirator-turned-star witness Leissner was only testifying against him to receive a lighter sentence.

The guilty verdict wrapped up a two-month trial in New York, in which prosecutors said US$4.5 billion (RM19.2 billion) of a US$6.5 billion fund was siphoned off over a six-year period to 2015.

While the Ng is the first and likely only conviction in the US, former prime minister Najib Razak has already been convicted of misappropriating funds from 1MDB subsidiary SRC International. An appeal is pending at Federal Court.

Najib is also on trial at the High Court for further corruption charges in relation to 1MDB. The case continues. – April 9, 2022.