Goldman Sachs had a reliable defence for its role in the 1MDB scandal: blame the help. For years, the bank pointed at bankers like Roger Ng Chong Hwa as the bad apples who'd gone rogue, arranged the bribes, and generally made Goldman look bad through no fault of Goldman's institutional culture, incentive structures, or $600 million in fees. In 2023, a US federal court validated half of that theory by convicting Ng on conspiracy and money laundering charges. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Prosecutors had wanted 15 years, arguing Ng played a central role in diverting money meant for Malaysian infrastructure into bribes, personal enrichment, diamonds, artwork, and the financing of Hollywood film 'The Wolf of Wall Street' — a movie about financial fraud, making the whole affair either deeply ironic or a masterclass in branding. Ng's former boss Tim Leissner had already pleaded guilty and cooperated with prosecutors. Goldman, having paid its $2.9 billion institutional penance, watched from a comfortable distance.