DoJ has until Dec to extradite Ng, says Amar Singh

KUALA LUMPUR: The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) has until the end of December to complete the extradition of former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng, says Bukit Aman.

Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Amar Singh Ishar Singh said DoJ has 60 days from the day Ng was arrested to complete the extradition.

Ng was picked up on Nov 1 in connection with the 1Malaysia Develop­ment Bhd (1MDB) investigation and the police subsequently obtained a 60-day remand order pending the extradition.

“We are assisting the DoJ in their indictment against Ng in connection with the 1MDB investigation.

“The DoJ has to complete all the necessary arrangements and documentation in relation to the extradition process within the 60 days,” he told a press conference after launching the Sri Hartamas police station yesterday.

Asked whether the CCID will question Ng as they were also investigating the 1MDB scandal, Comm Amar said Ng’s arrest was at the request of DoJ.

Bloomberg reported that Ng is fighting extradition to the US, where he would face charges of money laundering and bribery related to the scandal.

The portal which quoted people who asked not to be identified claimed that Ng was filing an application to review the US detention and extradition order.

However, it is learnt that authorities do not expect any hiccups or difficulties in extraditing Ng to the US.

“The onus is on the DoJ to complete and meet the requirements in extraditing Ng.

“Malaysian police have been most professional in their assistance to the DoJ,” a source said.

The DoJ had charged Ng’s former colleague Tim Leissner alongside fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, over funds misappropriated from 1MDB and paying bribes to various Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials.

The three-count indictment charges Low with misappropriating money from 1MDB and using it for bribes and kickbacks to foreign officials, to pay for a luxury real estate, art and jewellery in the US and to fund Hollywood movies, including The Wolf of Wall Street.

Leissner pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder money and to violating anti-bribery laws. He has been ordered to forfeit US$43.7mil (RM182.27mil) as a result of his crimes.