Ex-Goldman Banker Convicted in Case Over the Looting of Billions From a Malaysian Fund

A former Goldman Sachs banker was convicted Friday on bribery and money laundering charges stemming from one of the biggest global kleptocracy cases in history: the multibillion-dollar looting of a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.

A federal jury found the former banker, Roger Ng, guilty after a nearly two-month trial that was delayed for several days because U.S. federal prosecutors were slow in turning over potentially critical documents to the defendant, and the government’s key cooperating witness admitted to being a frequent liar in both business and personal affairs.

After more than two days of deliberation, the jurors found Mr. Ng guilty of all three charges. He could face up to 30 years in prison.

The trial, which began in mid-February in federal court in Brooklyn, is likely to be the only criminal trial in the United States to arise from the scandal involving the Malaysian fund known as 1MDB. More than $4 billion in stolen money funded lavish lifestyles for powerful Malaysians and others, buying paintings by van Gogh and Monet, paying for luxury properties from London to Beverly Hills and helping finance the Hollywood movie “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

Jho Low, the big-spending Malaysian businessman and the architect of the scheme, was indicted along with Mr. Ng but he is a fugitive and believed to be living in China. Tim Leissner, a former Goldman partner and the government’s star witness during the trial, is scheduled to be sentenced this summer; he pleaded guilty to bribery and money laundering charges in 2018.

Mr. Low pocketed nearly $1 billion in diverted funds from a series of bond offerings that Goldman had arranged for the 1MDB fund. Mr. Leissner got more than $60 million in kickbacks and prosecutors had said that Mr. Ng had received $35 million in illegal proceeds.

Federal prosecutors have said others — including the former prime minister of Malaysia and officials in Abu Dhabi — got hundreds of millions in bribes for approving Goldman as the main underwriter on the bond deals.

Mr. Leissner, once a rising star at Goldman in Asia, was on the stand for 10 days, which included six days of a blistering cross-examination. While on the stand, Mr. Leissner admitted being a prolific liar: He was forced to admit to initially lying to federal agents, to his fellow partners at Goldman and his girlfriends and wives, including Kimora Lee Simmons, the model and fashion designer. (The couple, who have two children, are estranged.)

A lawyer for Mr. Ng told the jury during closing argument that Mr. Leissner can’t be trusted to tell the truth on anything, including his involvement in the bribery and kickback scheme. But prosecutors said Mr. Leissner was telling the truth about the crimes Mr. Ng was charged with, including a $35 million payment that authorities said was an illegal kickback.

Mr. Ng’s wife, Hwee Bin Lim, testified the $35 million that she and her husband received were the proceeds from a $6 million investment she had made many years ago with Mr. Leissner’s second wife, Judy Chan.

The trial of Mr. Ng was an unusual example of a manager testifying against a subordinate. In high-profile corporate crime cases, key cooperating witnesses are often used to build cases against higher-up executives at a firm. But in Mr. Leissner’s case his cooperation was used by federal prosecutors to not only prove the charges against Mr. Ng but to build a criminal case against his former employer.

Mr. Leissner’s cooperation led to Goldman Sachs’s Malaysia subsidiary pleading guilty to a single charge of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act — the first instance of Goldman appearing before a U.S. judge and admitting it was guilty of a crime.

The bank agreed to pay $2.3 billion in fines to federal authorities and billions more to authorities in other countries, including Malaysia. The bank itself also entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with U.S. authorities.