Analysis: Malaysia’s 1MDB campaign against Goldman Sachs gets boost with return of convicted banker Roger Ng

“We did not impose any conditions when Ng was handed over (to the US) and there is no reason for any (conditions) now,” said a Home Ministry official involved in the 1MDB matter.

The diplomatic impasse over the handover of Ng forced Malaysia to employ some diplomatic hardball tactics.

A LEGAL GAMBIT?

Ng’s return follows a legal bid by the Malaysian government to pressure Washington to surrender the convict.

In early September, US law firm Amsterdam & Partners LLP notified Judge Brodie that the Malaysian government was declaring its intention to become an interested party in the ongoing wrangle between the US government and Ng over when the former banker will begin serving his jail sentence in a US prison.

The law firm, appointed by the Malaysian government, noted that Washington had backtracked on earlier commitments with regards to the custody arrangements of the former Goldman Sachs executive. 

In particular, Judge Brodie was informed that in a series of letters dating back to March 2019, both parties had agreed that the “United States Department of Justice must seek the US Court’s authorisation to return Ng to Malaysia before he commences serving any term of imprisonment in the United States”.

“Based on correspondence received by Malaysia from July to September 2023, the United States is pushing ahead with a materially divergent interpretation of those commitments,” noted the letter signed by lawyers Peter J Sahlas and Cameron Ashouripour. 

The correspondence to Judge Brodie, which was reviewed by CNA, was dated Sep 5, three days after the firm was appointed to represent the Malaysia government.

A Malaysian government official close to the situation acknowledged that Kuala Lumpur’s move to become an interest party in the ongoing case between Ng and the US government was a departure from normal diplomatic protocols. 

But he insisted that Mr Anwar’s administration was acting within its rights under obligations in both the extradition treaty the countries share and commitments made by both countries in a series of letters that began in March 2019.

The most recent decision by Judge Brodie in the New York District Court has, for now, settled the diplomatic tangle. 

However, it is unclear whether Ng would return to prison in Malaysia, where he was remanded before his extradition to the US in May 2019, or would be allowed the same conditions of home detention that he enjoyed when he was in New York.