PUTRAJAYA — Convicted ex-Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng Chong Hwa will be asked to testify as a witness for Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the latter’s 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) corruption trail, said lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.
Najib’s defence team is hoping that Ng’s testimony will support the former prime minister’s arguments that he alone could not have been responsible for the misappropriation of billions in 1MDB funds.
Shafee said Ng may even be able to provide crucial evidence that could exonerate Najib.
“Maybe he can say that Najib did nothing wrong.. who knows?
“For us, our concern is why is it Najib alone who is the accused in the dock, when others from the banks, from Bank Negara, and 1MDB’s senior officials were only called as witnessed and nothing more,” Shafee said at a press conference at the Palace of Justice here, today.
Shafee said the defence team wants into interview Ng, and to have Najib preview the former banker’s testimony.
However, given the possibility that Ng might decline, Shafee said the defence would them subpoena, or compel him to testify.
Shafee last week told the high court where Najib’s 1MDB case is being heard that the defence intends to interview Ng before deciding if he should be called as a defence witness.
Najib is facing four charges of corruption and 21 counts of money-laundering involving RM2.3 billion of 1MDB funds.
Ng, who is under witness protection in Malaysia, was made available as a witness last week through subpoenas issued by the court to the director-general of the Protection Division under the Prime Minister’s Department to produce Ng as a witness. The court also subpoenaed Ng to testify for the defence.
In 2022, Ng was convicted by a US federal jury on charges of embezzling and laundering 1MDB funds, and bribing government officials. In March 2023, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
He was repatriated to Malaysia in October 2023 to assist local authorities in the recovery of 1MDB assets – April 21, 2025