No bail for Roger Ng after court rejects application

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng will remain in prison pending his extradition to the United States to face criminal charges relating to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), a Sessions Court rules.

In dismissing Ng’s application for bail, judge M.M. Edwin Paramjothy in his judgment said there was insufficient evidence regarding Ng’s health condition.

He said he also considered the possibility that Ng would abscond.

The judge added that the reason given by Ng that it was difficult to meet his lawyers in prison to prepare his defence was misplaced.

Later, Ng’s counsel Datuk Tan Hock Chuan applied to the court to instruct the Prison Department to allow two hours in two sessions per week to visit his client.

Last Friday, Tan had applied for his client to be freed on bail pending the extradition hearing.

In the application, Tan said his client was suffering from leptospirosis, suspected dengue and a viral infection while he was being held in custody, and the lawyers have written a letter to the prison authorities to seek medical treatment for Ng.

But the prosecution objected to the application on grounds that a proper application should be filed formally so that the prosecution could put in a proper reply to it.

The court set Jan 22 for mention for the counsel to update on developments in the extradition case. Deputy public prosecutor Mahadhir Mohd Khairuddin acted for the prosecution.

On Dec 12, the government filed an application to extradite Ng to the United States to face three criminal charges related to 1MDB and the application was made by the Attorney General’s Chambers on behalf of the US government, who wanted Ng sent back to America to face the Federal Court in the eastern district of New York.