SINGAPORE: On Sept 5 (Tuesday), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued lifetime prohibition orders against Ng Chong Hwa, otherwise known as Roger Ng, a former Goldman Sachs managing director.
The order was issued “following Mr Ng’s conviction in the United States for conspiracy to launder monies embezzled from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and violation of the United States’ Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA),” MAS said.
Ng was convicted in 2022 on bribery and money-laundering charges connected to the 1MDB scandal that saw billions of dollars siphoned from the sovereign wealth fund. He was given a 10-year jail sentence in New York last March.
MAS wrote that the former banker is permanently prohibited from performing any regulated activity under the Securities and Futures Act and from providing any financial advisory services under the Financial Advisers Act.
“He is also permanently prohibited from taking part in the management, acting as a director, or becoming a substantial shareholder, of any capital market and financial advisory services firm under the SFA and FAA,” added MAS.
The country’s central bank also said that Ng’s “severe misconduct” gave MAS cause for believing it would be “contrary to public interest to allow him to carry on business as a representative”.
Ng is the only individual to go to trial so far in the US due to the 1MDB scandal. His associate, Low Taek Jho (Jho Low), considered the mastermind behind the scheme, is a fugitive and believed to be hiding in China.
“Roger Ng was a central player in a brazen and audacious scheme that not only victimized the people of Malaysia, but also risked undermining the public’s confidence in governments, markets, businesses and other institutions on a global scale,” said Mr Breon Peace, the attorney for the Eastern District of New York, at the time of Ng’s sentencing.
Malaysia is currently seeking Ng’s return. /TISG