Roger Ng warned Goldman about Jho Low, met Najib before

 

Former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng had recommended Low Taek Jho better known as Jho Low, as a client for Goldman Sachs while "advising caution" in March 2010.

This was revealed by Patrick Kidney, a former Goldman Sachs compliance officer while testifying against Ng at a US court yesterday.

When asked to read a draft summary on Low produced by Ng, Kidney read: "He did not find the individual's claim to be credible".

The "individual" was in reference to Low. Kidney said Ng told Goldman Sachs that "he had not heard of the individual apart from meeting with him on a single occasion".

The same draft summary on Low said Ng was introduced to then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Ng had warned the compliance panel not to accept Jho Low's claims about the size and source of his wealth at face value.

Following this, according to Kidney, the compliance panel spent six months trying to vet Low and eventually rejected him as a client in June 2010.

Continued to do business

Bloomberg speculated that prosecutors called Kidney as a witness to eventually demonstrate that Ng continued to do business with Low for years after the latter was rejected by Goldman Sachs.

Ng, 49, was accused of conspiring with his former superior Tim Leissner to help Low scheme billions from 1MDB.

Kidney testified that he and his team met Jho Low several times between January and June 2010 but the latter could not explain the source of his wealth.

The compliance team also considered Low a "politically exposed person".

In September 2009, 1MDB had wired US$1 billion to various companies, ostensibly as a joint-venture with PetroSaudi International.

According to US authorities, the money eventually made its way to a Swiss bank account of a company called Good Star Limited. They claim that the company was beneficially owned by Low.

Major schemes

This transaction is widely known as the "Good Star Phase", the first in three major schemes allegedly hatched by Low to defraud 1MDB.

1MDB was a company formed in 2009 as a sovereign wealth fund during the Najib administration. The company racked up billions in government-guaranteed debts, most of it squandered.

Najib has already been convicted for money laundering involving a 1MDB subsidiary known as SRC International. He is also facing trial for money laundering involving 1M. - Mkini