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Former Goldman Sachs Banker Headed to Prison For 10 Years U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie called it a crime "of pure greed."

By Gabrielle Bienasz

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Bloomberg / Contributor I Getty Images
Roger Ng, formerly of Goldman Sachs, in 2023.

Former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday, according to CNN.

"There is a critical need to deter crimes of pure greed like this one," U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie said.

Ng was found guilty in April 2022 of three counts including conspiring to launder money. He faced trial over the "1MDB scandal," which stole billions from Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund.

As Margo put it in the trial, Ng "effectively stole money" from things like support for infrastructure for people who live in Malaysia. At one point, this scandal was under investigation in five countries and even impacted international diplomacy, per the Wall Street Journal.

"Between 2012 and 2013, the defendant, Roger Ng, received more than $35 million in kickbacks for his role in the scheme to steal and launder billions of dollars from 1MDB, including funds 1MDB raised in 2012 and 2013 through three bond transactions and to use that money for bribes," the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of New York said in April.

Ng collaborated with people including Tim Leissner, who pleaded guilty as well as testified against Ng, and former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, who is serving 12 years in prison.

Gabrielle Bienasz is a staff writer at Entrepreneur. She previously worked at Insider and Inc. Magazine. 

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