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Friday Roundup

Roundup

Checking in with Firtash, what the …?, if only it were that simple, and for the reading stack.

It’s all here in the Friday roundup.

Checking In With Firtash

As highlighted in this prior post, in April 2014 the DOJ announced the unsealing of a criminal indictment charging six individuals “with participating in an alleged international racketeering conspiracy involving bribes of state and central government officials in India to allow the mining of titanium minerals.” Among the defendants was high-profile Ukrainian businessman Dmitry Firtash.

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A Closer Look At The Ng Jury Instructions

Closer Look

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act jury trials are rare.

Therefore, FCPA jury instructions are also rare.

Highlighted below are certain portions of the jury instructions from the recent trial of Roger Ng (a former managing director at Goldman Sachs) was who convicted by a jury of FCPA and related offenses for paying bribes to various Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials in connection with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Malaysia’s state-owned and state-controlled investment development company.

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Ng Found Guilty Of FCPA And Related Offenses

RogerNg

As highlighted here, in November 2018 the DOJ announced criminal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (and related charges) against individuals associated with Goldman Sachs – including Roger Ng (a former managing director at Goldman Sachs) – for paying bribes to various Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials in connection with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Malaysia’s state-owned and state-controlled investment development company. The individuals were also charged with conspiring to launder billions of dollars embezzled from 1MDB.

As highlighted here, in September 2021 U.S. District Court Judge Margo Brodie (E.D.N.Y) denied Ng’s motion to dismiss to certain charges paving the way for a rare FCPA trial.

The trial began in mid-February and today Ng was convicted of FCPA and related charges.

As reported by Law360:

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Ng Trial Paused As DOJ Acknowledges Its Own “Inexcusable” Error

Inexcusable

As discussed in this prior post, judicial findings of prosecutorial misconduct or other mishaps have been an all too frequent feature in contested individual Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement actions.

This recent post highlighted the start of the FCPA (and related) trial of Roger Ng (a former managing director at Goldman Sachs) for allegedly paying bribes to various Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials in connection with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Malaysia’s state-owned and state-controlled investment development company.

As highlighted here, the trial has been paused due to – in the words of the DOJ – an “inexcusable” error by the government. Specifically, the DOJ has acknowledged that it has failed to produce to the defense 15,500 documents of co-defendant Tim  Leissner (a former Southeast Asia Chairman at Goldman Sach and Participating Manager Director who pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the government). As highlighted here, the DOJ further described the error as a “total institutional failure.”

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Ng Files Motion To Dismiss

RogerNg

As highlighted in this prior post, in November 2018 the DOJ criminally charged former Goldman Sachs executives Tim Leissner and Ng Chong Hwa (Roger Ng) (along with Low Taek Jho – Jho Low) with Foreign Corrupt Practices Act offenses for paying bribes to various Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials in connection with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Malaysia’s state-owned and state-controlled investment development company.

Leissner pleaded guilty and in October Goldman Sachs resolved a net $1.66 billion FCPA enforcement action based on the same conduct. (See additional posts here and here).

Ng is mounting a defense and recently filed this motion to dismiss (an entire section of which is redacted). As highlighted below, Ng argues that the DOJ’s case against him suffers from several factual errors and legal deficiencies. Ng also suggests that the DOJ scripted Leissner’s guilty plea and that Goldman’s DPA was entered into for reasons of risk aversion and otherwise compromises his ability to defend himself.

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