U.S. Seeks Testimony about Ex-Goldman Banker Ng’s ‘Cover Story’

(Bloomberg) -- Prosecutors said they want to conclude their questioning of former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker Tim Leissner on Tuesday by having him tell jurors how he met with Roger Ng and their wives in 2016 to concoct “a cover story,” to conceal their fraud tied to the looting of 1MDB.

Leissner is the government's star witness against his former subordinate Ng, who's on trial accused of conspiring to bribe officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi from 1MDB bond deals. The alleged mastermind of the scheme, financier Jho Low paid Leissner more than $60 million in kickbacks while Ng got $35 million, according to prosecutors.

Ng's lawyer Marc Agnifilo has argued the money Ng received was a transfer from an account controlled by Leissner's former wife, Judy Chan, to Ng's wife Hwee Bin Lim, for a legitimate separate business transaction between the two wives.

Prosecutors are attempting to persuade the judge to allow the testimony even though Lim's statements occurred after the alleged conspiracy ended. They are relevant and could refute Agnifilo's claims the transfer of funds was legitimate, prosecutors said.

Agnifilo didn't immediately return an email seeking comment. He has said that Lim will testify about the transaction as part of her husband's defense.

The U.S. said Monday in a court filing that Leissner could describe a 2016 meeting he had with his former wife, Ng and Lim after questions were raised about the role Goldman bankers played in the 1MDB scandal in a series of published news articles.

Leissner could testify that after the couples met with a “feng shui master” in 2016, Ng's wife said “they needed to come up with a cover story to explain why Ms. Chan had sent money” to an account controlled by her, according to the prosecutors.

Ng and his wife decided “the best story would be to say that the defendant had previously invested in Ms. Chan's real estate business,” prosecutors said Leissner would testify. Leissner would also say that Ng and his wife “would fabricate a story” about the origins of the investment, according to the prosecutors.

Prosecutors said that after Ng was arrested in Singapore in 2017, Ng's wife called Leissner “in a panic,” Leissner would tell the jury. Lim said they all needed to have “a common story” about the transfer of the money and said Ng had disclosed to investigators “nothing else about them,” and “downplayed the current contact between” her husband and Leissner, according to the prosecutors.

Ng's trial, which is in its third week, was adjourned Thursday afternoon until Tuesday to give Ng's lawyers time to review at least 15,500 documents belatedly provided by the U.S. last week.