PUTRAJAYA: Whether former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng will face charges in Malaysia will depend on the outcome of the authorities’ investigation, says Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.The Home Minister said Ng’s time in Malaysia would also depend on how long the agencies need to carry out their probe.
Saifuddin Nasution said that while an investigation on Ng had started when he was handed over to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2019, it was still in its early stages.
“It is still premature for me to say if Roger Ng will face charges here or otherwise.
“The main thing is that he is now back in Malaysia.
“His return will enable the police to continue with their probe and also for him to help in asset recovery efforts, be it from Goldman Sachs or 1MDB.
“That is the main objective of bringing him back,” he said after an engagement session with representatives of various religious bodies yesterday.
On whether the former banker, who was sentenced to 10 years’ jail in the United States, would have to return to serve his jail term, Saifuddin Nasution replied: “We have not come to that part yet. He has just returned; let’s see what is the outcome of the investigation.”
He said it was up to the police to determine whether to proceed with the existing probe on Ng or to initiate a new one.
He added that his responsibility as the Home Minister was to facilitate Ng’s return to Malaysia.
Saifuddin Nasution said so far, Ng was being investigated by the police and that he was not aware of whether other agencies and authorities wanted to question him.
Explaining further, the minister said that the US DOJ and the Attorney General’s Chambers, which was then led by Tan Sri Tommy Thomas, had exchanged correspondence where the former had requested for Ng to be repatriated.
“We agreed to surrender Ng to the DOJ so that he could face trial in the US. The agreement was that once the trial was over, whatever the outcome was, Ng was to be returned to Malaysia.
“This is to enable our authorities to continue their investigation into the 1MDB case,” he said.
On whether Ng is being detained by the police, Saifuddin Nasution said: “The police are taking care of him. I am not too sure of the arrangement.”
On May 6, 2019, Thomas in a statement said that Ng was handed over to the US under a temporary surrender warrant, signed by then home minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on April 25 that year.
On Oct 6, a US court said that Ng, who was convicted of helping loot billions of dollars from 1MDB in March, would be returned to Malaysia to face related charges.
Ng arrived here on Sunday.
