The 1MDB scandal goes to trial

Former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng (R) and his lawyer Marc Agnifilo (L) arrive at US Federal Court in New York. Yuki Iwamura/AFP via Getty Images.

To all the readers who’ve been desperate for a juicy business trial since Elizabeth Holmes was convicted—your wait is over.

Roger Ng, the former head of investment banking in Malaysia for Goldman Sachs, will stand trial in New York beginning today. He’s accused of playing a prominent role in a massive laundering scheme that plundered billions from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, 1MDB.

The details: In one of Wall Street’s all-time biggest scandals, Goldman Sachs facilitated $6.5 billion in bond sales for 1MDB…but to win the business bankers bribed government officials and later funneled a chunk of the money into extravagant purchases.

Embezzled funds were used to buy a Beverly Hills hotel, a $200 million superyacht, and even to help finance Wolf of Wall Street.

The fallout: Goldman Sachs apologized for its role and paid $5 billion in fines, but Ng is the only Goldman Sachs banker to be put on trial in the US over 1MDB. The ringleader of the entire operation, Malaysian tycoon Jho Low, remains at large and is rumored to be hiding out in China.

Required reading: Billion Dollar Whale is the definitive book on Low’s historic fraud.