A former Goldman Sachs banker has been extradited by Malaysia to the US to face criminal charges connected to the $4.5bn (£3.4bn) corruption scandal at the 1MDB state investment fund.
Malaysia’s attorney general said Roger Ng had been transferred to the US for 10 months, after which he would be returned to face charges in his home country.
Ng, who left Goldman Sachs in 2014, has been detained in Kuala Lumpur since last November after the US justice department charged him with allegedly laundering funds diverted from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund.
Vast sums were allegedly looted from 1MDB in a fraud said to have extended to the former Malaysian leader Najib Razak and his associates, triggering an international outcry and embroiling one of the world’s biggest investment banks in a financial scandal. Last month, Razak went on trial on corruption charges linked to 1MDB. He denies the charges.
Ng is among former bankers at Goldman Sachs accused of helping to misappropriate $2.7bn of funds, bribing officials and giving false statements when helping to issue bonds that would raise proceeds for 1MDB. He had agreed to be sent to the US, but proceedings were delayed when Malaysia’s home minister said he should first face criminal charges in the south-east Asian country.
Following negotiations with the US, the Malaysian attorney general, Tommy Thomas, said the two countries had agreed to transfer Ng temporarily to the US. He would then be tried in Malaysia as soon as the US proceedings were concluded. Ng was sent to the US on 3 May, according to a statement.
“The period of temporary surrender may be extended upon mutual agreement by Malaysia and the US,” Thomas said.
Ng was charged in Kuala Lumpur with four counts of abetting the bank to provide misleading statements in the offering prospectus for 1MDB bond sales. He was also charged in the US with conspiring to launder the money and violating bribery laws.
Marc Agnifilo, a lawyer for Ng, said he expected his client to plead not guilty, in comments reported by the New York Times on Monday.
Goldman Sachs is under scrutiny for its role helping to underwrite and arrange three bond sales that raised $6.5bn for 1MDB. US authorities estimate that about $4.5bn was misappropriated by senior 1MDB officials and their associates between 2009 and 2014, including some of the funds that Goldman Sachs helped to raise.
US prosecutors claim the diverted cash was used by conspirators to buy luxury property in cities such as New York, acquire expensive artwork and fund the production of Hollywood films including The Wolf of Wall Street.
Goldman Sachs has denied wrongdoing and said certain members of the former Malaysian government and 1MDB lied to the bank about how the bond proceeds would be used.
Tim Leissner, another former Goldman Sachs official, and Malaysian financier Jho Low have also been charged in the US over 1MDB funds. Leissner has pleaded guilty, but Low has denied wrongdoing.
Malaysia said late last year it was seeking up to $7.5bn in reparations from Goldman Sachs over its dealings with 1MDB.
