ROGER Ng, the former Goldman Sachs banker convicted of abetment in the defrauding of 1MDB, is suing his former boss Tim Leissner, who was the US government’s star witness in a trial, for more than US$130 (RM611) million for fraud, Reuters reported today.

Ng, who is from Singapore, filed his case in Manhattan, New York, accusing Leissner of repeatedly lying in order to steal his investments in energy drink maker Celsius Holdings and artificial intelligence company Sentient Technologies.

Leissner, a former Goldman partner, is alleged to have stolen Ng’s money to pay for his defence costs in a criminal case related to 1MDB, in which he pleaded guilty in 2018.

“Ng is in the unimaginable position of having to defend himself against allegations made by the person who defrauded him and who stole the money that plaintiff Ng needs to defend against those same allegations,” the complaint said.

Ng, who headed the investment banking arm of Goldman Sachs Malaysia, said Leissner’s thefts included a US$1.25 million Celsius stake now worth more than US$130 million, plus US$1 million intended to buy half of Leissner’s interest in Sentient.

A federal jury in Brooklyn in April convicted Ng of conspiring to violate an anti-bribery law and commit money laundering.

Ng faces up to 30 years in prison. He and Leissner are scheduled to be sentenced in February. 

Billions of dollars were stolen from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB in a conspiracy that spanned continents and implicated some of the world’ biggest banks. The illicit gains were also alleged to have been used to fund the production of Hollywood blockbuster “The Wolf of Wall Street”, starring Leonardo diCaprio.  

Malaysian ex-prime minister Najib Razak was sent to jail to serve 12 years for his role in the looting of 1MDB. – November 12, 2022.