Conviction of Roger Ng Relating to the 1MDB

Latest: Corruption and Money Laundering.

FCPA Alert: Lessons Learned from Last Week's Trial Conviction of Roger Ng Relating to the 1MDB Malaysian Bond Deals.

On Friday, after a two-month trial and just over three days of deliberation, a jury in the Eastern District of New York returned its verdict in the case against Roger Ng, finding the international banker guilty on all counts. Bracewell attorneys personally observed the closing arguments of counsel, which were well presented and hard-fought on both sides.

The verdict came as a surprise to some who were skeptical of the government’s charges against Ng, former Managing Director of Goldman Sachs subsidiaries in Southeast Asia, for money laundering and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Jury trials under the FCPA are a rarity, as many FCPA defendants historically have been corporate entities that negotiated Deferred Prosecution Agreements with the government, and thus avoid the public scrutiny that is informed by trial.1 Ng’s case, which started under the last administration, is illustrative of the current trend in FCPA enforcement strategies to target not only corporate entities but also the individuals responsible for corrupt payments.2 Ng faces up to 20 years in prison for each of his three counts of conviction, although the district court has broad discretion in imposing his ultimate sentence.

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