THE WIFE of former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker Roger Ng is becoming a key figure in his foreign-bribery trial, as US prosecutors argue she helped him launder millions of dollars from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
They want the jury to hear statements that Ng’s wife, Hwee Bin Lim, made to bankers about an account and shell company they say she opened in 2012 -- even as Ng’s lawyers plan to call her as a witness on his behalf. The defense says Lim will testify that $35.1 million transferred into an account she controlled wasn’t 1MDB money but was for an unrelated business transaction.