Malaysia hands over ex-Goldman banker Roger Ng to US to face 1MDB charges

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia has quietly handed over former Goldman Sachs investment banker Roger Ng to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) following secret negotiations that began early this year.

Two senior executives familiar with the negotiations told The Straits Times that Ng, who has been in custody in a Malaysian jail since November, was handed over to US government officials over the weekend and is expected to arrive in New York on Monday.

The 47-year-old Ng, who left the investment bank and financial services company in 2014, was slapped by a provisional warrant of arrest in late October by the DOJ, which had sought Malaysia's help to locate him.

The former Goldman Sachs banker was arrested by the Malaysians in November and subsequently charged in a Malaysian sessions court with four counts of abetting Goldman Sachs in selling US$6 billion (S$8.2 billion) of guaranteed notes and bonds issued by state fund 1MDB and its subsidiaries by omitting material information and publishing untrue information.

Ng is wanted by the DOJ to face charges in a New York federal court that he helped his former boss, Tim Liessner, to launder money and bribe government officials as part of Goldman Sachs' work for 1MDB. The US is also keen to have custody of him as part of a wider initiative for DOJ to build its case against Goldman Sachs.

THE STRAITS TIMES