KUALA LUMPUR (March 11): Lim Hwee Bin, the wife of former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng Chong Hwa who is indicted in the United States (US), is scheduled to leave Malaysia and testify in her husband's defence next week.
This was revealed in court transcripts dated March 10 that are made available to theedgemarkets.com.
With her arrival, the criminal proceedings in the US against Ng, 48, may conclude at the end of this month.
In the proceedings before US District Judge Margo Brodie in the federal court in Brooklyn on Thursday (March 10), the court was told that Lim, a lawyer practising in Malaysia, has sorted her documentation with the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.
"She has a flight on March 16 (Wednesday). So I think that does actually work for our case as well," Ng's defence lawyer Teny Rose Geragos told the court.
At present, former Goldman Sachs compliance executive Patrick Kidney, who worked with the institution, is on the witness stand.
Ng's lead counsel Mark Agnifilo informed Brodie that the defence has two other witnesses besides Lim, namely Kidney and a former Goldman Sachs employee.
The court: Okay. How long do you expect your case to be?
Agnifilo: I would imagine, I would imagine about three days, Your Honour. In addition to flying in Ms Hwee Bin, we are subpoenaing at least one Goldman Sachs employee. I would not think it's more than three days.
The court: Okay. So can I update the jury to let them know that we're expecting to be able to finish testimony by the last week in March?
Agnifilo: That seems, that seems —
The court: That way, it builds in a little bit of time for us.
Agnifilo: That seems fair.
Drew Godfrey Rolle: That's fine with us, Judge.
Ng, the only Goldman Sachs banker on trial in relation to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), is charged with conspiring to launder money and bribe government officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi through bond offerings that Goldman Sachs handled. Three charges are levelled against him for alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. If found guilty, he faces up to 30 years in prison.
His former colleague Tim Leissener, a star witness in the trial against Ng, pleaded guilty to similar charges in August 2018 and agreed to cooperate. He was ordered to forfeit US$44 million (RM184.38 million).
Besides this, Ng and Lim are also faced with the prospect of the prosecution's appeal to forfeit RM1.88 million in their accounts in relation to 1MDB.
Ng before his indictment in the US was also facing four charges in Malaysia of abetting Goldman Sachs in the sale of notes and bonds belonging to 1MDB subsidiaries by omitting material information and publishing untrue statements.
He is charged under Subsection 370(c) of Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 (CMSA) which carries a punishment of up to 10 years' imprisonment and a fine of not less than RM1 million, upon conviction.
In the first charge, Ng is accused of abetting Goldman Sachs International in the omission of material facts in the issuance of the 10-year US$1.75 billion bond by 1MDB Energy Ltd, while the second is in relation to omitting material facts in a 10-year US$1.75 billion bond issuance by 1MDB Energy (Langat) Ltd.
The third charge related to omitting material facts in the issuance of 10-year US$3 billion bond by 1MDB Global Investments Ltd and the fourth is abetting the same financial institution in making untrue statements of material facts in offering circulars on the bonds issued by 1MDB Global Investments.
Among material facts allegedly omitted in these charges was "a person named Low Taek Jho, 39, is the principal controller and intermediary of 1MDB".