Brodie didn’t rule on the forfeiture issue last week. In an order late Wednesday, the judge directed both sides to submit arguments on whether or not the amount sought by prosecutors violated the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits excessive fines along with cruel and unusual punishment.
Former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker Roger Ng, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison last week for his role in the 1MDB fraud, is claiming he can’t meet US prosecutors’ demand that he also pay US$35 million because the Malaysian government already took all of his money.
Federal prosecutors had asked US District Judge Margo Brodie in Brooklyn, New York, to order Ng to forfeit that amount as ill-gotten gains from the conspiracy to loot the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund at his March 9 sentencing. Ng’s lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, argued that no other penalties were needed and that his client had no funds in any case.
