00:00Former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng Chung-hwa told the High Court that he first met fugitive
00:07businessman Joe Lowe around 2008 or 2009.
00:11Ng, subpoenaed as the 25th defense witness at the 1MDB trial on Thursday, added that
00:17it was then he learned about setting up a sovereign wealth fund.
00:20However, he could not recall whether Lowe approached him first.
00:24Ng said he heard rumors about setting up the Terengganu Investment Authority, which later
00:29became 1MDB.
00:32The 53-year-old also denied being charged in the U.S. Court for conspiring with former
00:38Premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak in connection with 1MDB, like his former boss, Tim Leisner,
00:46and Joe Lowe.
00:47Ng was testifying before Justice Datuk Colin Lawrence-Sekwara at Najib's trial involving
00:52the alleged misappropriation of 2.3 billion ringgit from 1MDB.
00:58In 2018, Leisner, Goldman Sachs' former Southeast Asia head, pleaded guilty to conspiring with
01:04Lowe, who was charged in absentia.
01:06Ng was convicted in a New York court in April 2022 for aiding in the embezzlement of 1MDB
01:14funds, and faces a 10-year prison sentence.
01:17He was extradited to Malaysia in October 2023.
01:21At the time, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail explained that the extradition
01:27was to assist the government in recovering assets purchased using misappropriated 1MDB funds.
01:35Ng is expected to be extradited to the U.S. to face further charges related to the case.
01:47You
