U.S. jury deliberates in ex-Goldman banker’s 1MDB corruption trial

NEW YORK, April 8 (Reuters) – A U.S. jury resumed deliberations on Friday in the demo of a former Goldman Sachs (GS.N) banker accused of supporting loot billions of pounds from Malaysia’s 1MDB sovereign prosperity fund.

Prosecutors say Roger Ng, Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s previous leading investment decision banker for Malaysia, aided his then-manager Tim Leissner embezzle revenue from the fund — which was launched to pursue development jobs in the Southeast Asian place — launder the proceeds and bribe officials to get small business for Goldman.

Ng, 49, has pleaded not responsible to conspiring to launder cash and violating an anti-corruption law. His attorneys say Leissner, who pleaded responsible to very similar charges in 2018 and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors’ investigation, falsely implicated Ng in the hopes of obtaining a lenient sentence.

The costs stemmed from one of the greatest financial scandals in historical past.

Prosecutors have claimed Goldman aided 1MDB raise $6.5 billion via 3 bond product sales, but that $4.5 billion was diverted to governing administration officers, bankers and their associates by bribes and kickbacks in between 2009 and 2015.

Ng is the to start with, and possible only, man or woman to facial area demo in the United States around the plan. Goldman in 2020 paid out a just about $3 billion fine and its Malaysian unit agreed to plead guilty.

Deliberations commenced on Tuesday after a nearly two-month demo in federal courtroom in Brooklyn.

Jurors read nine days of testimony from Leissner, who said he sent Ng $35 million in kickbacks. Leissner stated the guys agreed to explain to financial institutions a “include story” that the funds was from a respectable organization venture involving their wives.

Ng’s spouse, Hwee Bin Lim, later on testified for the protection that the business enterprise venture was, in actuality, genuine. She reported she invested $6 million in the mid-2000s in a Chinese corporation owned by the loved ones of Leissner’s then-wife, Judy Chan, and that the $35 million was her return on that financial investment.

Ng’s attorney, Marc Agnifilo, stated in his closing argument on Monday that Leissner could not be reliable. A prosecutor, Alixandra Smith, said in her summation that Leissner’s testimony was backed up by other evidence.

Jho Minimal, a Malaysian financier and suspected mastermind of the plan, was indicted alongside Ng in 2018 but stays at significant.

Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York modifying by Jonathan Oatis

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