1MDB case: Ex-Goldman banker's wife can't prove source of US$35m

NEW YORK • The wife of the former Goldman Sachs banker, Roger Ng, on trial in the 1MDB scandal said she has no documentation proving that US$35 million (S$47 million) allegedly paid to him as an illegal kickback was actually a return on a legitimate investment.

Ng's wife, Ms Lim Hwee Bin, testified on Monday in his defence that she invested her parents' money in businesses controlled by Ms Judy Chan, then wife of Ng's boss at the time, Tim Leissner.

But under questioning on Tuesday from a federal prosecutor, Ms Lim said she had no records showing that a payment to her offshore account was for an investment she had made earlier with Ms Chan in China. When assistant attorney Alixandra Smith asked why not, Ms Lim testified she no longer has the single letter she received from Ms Chan acknowledging receipt of the funds.

"When you invest in China, there's no point for documents," Ms Lim said. "Even if I have a document, where do I go to enforce it?"

Pressed further by Ms Smith about how the Lim family's funds were transferred to Ms Chan, Ms Lim said, "Judy can explain."

Ms Lim said she and her brother, who are both lawyers, didn't ask questions about the investment and that Ms Chan never told her exactly how much it was worth.

In court, Ms Lim also told the jury that her feng shui master had warned her husband's boss of "bad karma" - a prediction that seems to have come true.

Ms Lim told the jurors that she and Ng arranged for fengshui readings with a "Master Pang" for Ng's boss, Leissner, in 2015 and 2016.

Leissner, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to charges of conspiracy in the looting of the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB and is cooperating with the US against Ng, has testified that the master told him a "female" would "be helpful to him in the future".

He said that when he met Ms Lim and Ng to discuss one of the fengshui readings, the three agreed to give authorities a "cover story" for a US$35 million kickback for Ng.

But on Tuesday, Ms Lim told the federal panel in Brooklyn, New York, that the female in question was Leissner's daughter.

She said the meeting was just to discuss the reading. Fengshui is a common practice in Asia used to read favourable and unfavourable signs and energy flows.

Ms Lim told the jury she and her husband consulted the master annually ahead of Chinese New Year and whenever they were looking for a new home or office.

"Don't cause bad karma," Ms Lim said Master Pang had warned Leissner. "Whatever bad is coming is coming out of your mouth."

BLOOMBERG