KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 — Roger Ng, a key abetter in the 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) embezzlement fiasco, has asked the US court to delay the start of his 10-year prison to August so he can spend time with his family, newswire Bloomberg reported last night.
The former head of Goldman Sachs’s investment banking in Malaysia was told to surrender to US federal prison officials on May 4, but is seeking the court’s permission to start his sentence only in August, his lawyer Marc Agnifilo was quoted as saying.
The lawyer claimed that Ng has not seen his daughter since he was arrested in 2018.
“Due to the amount of time Mr Ng has spent away from his minor child, and the length of his sentence, we respectfully request that Mr Ng be able to spend two months with his family before he surrenders,” Agnifilo was quoted as saying.
US prosecutors objected to the delay, the newswire reported, but added that John Marzulli, a spokesman for the US district attorney-general Breon Peace, declined comment.
Ng was convicted by a US federal court last month of helping his former Goldman Sachs boss Tim Leissner embezzle and launder billions in US dollars from the Malaysian sovereign investment fund to bribe government officials for business, and sentenced to 10 years in jail.
He was reported by Reuters to have told the US court on March 9 that he wanted to return to Malaysia to spend time with his ageing mother and young daughter who will be turning 11 in June.
The ex-investment banker would still face prosecution in Malaysia once he is released, Agnifilo was quoted as saying.
