Ex-Goldman banker Ng given discharge not amounting to acquittal pending conclusion of US trial

The Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday issued former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng Chong Hwa a discharge not amounting to an acquittal for four counts of abetting the company in the sale of security notes and bonds worth US$6.5 billion belonging to 1MDB subsidiaries.

Judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin gave the ruling after deputy public prosecutor Zaki Asyraf Zubir made an application pending the sentencing phase at the Eastern District of New York court.

Zaki earlier said that Ng's criminal trial at the US court was complete and that the sentencing, which was supposed to be done in December last year, was postponed to this February.

"The prosecution is still interested in pursuing this case in the future, but for the time being to avoid any waste of time, the prosecution requests that the accused be given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal until all legal processes (in the US) are completed," he said.

Ng’s counsel Tan Hock Chuan, however, requested that his client be released and freed from all charges as the case had taken so much time.
 
On April 8 last year,  Ng was found guilty by a US court of conspiring to embezzle hundreds of millions of dollars from 1MDB.

On Dec 19, 2018, Ng pleaded not guilty to four counts of abetting Goldman Sachs in the sale of security notes and bonds by omitting material facts and making false statements.

He was charged with committing the offences at the 1MDB office, eighth floor, IMC Tower, Jalan Sultan Ismail between March 19, 2012 and Nov 11, 2013.

On Sept 2021, the charges against Goldman Sachs International Ltd and two of its entities in Asia, Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC and Goldman Sachs (Singapore), were dropped after High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan allowed the prosecution’s application to retract the charges.