Former NAB banker implicated in home loan scam

Andrew Matthews, a former employee of National Australia Bank (NAB), faced a Melbourne Magistrates Court yesterday, a week after NAB announced it had sacked 20 bankers and disciplined 32 staff members over the issuance of thousands of home loans based on fraudulent customer information.

The 36-year-old was named NAB’s mobile banker of the year for regional Victoria in 2015 and had worked at the NAB branch in Seaford before he was sacked in July 2016, when the impropriety was uncovered.

According to the ABC, Matthews had dozens of customers sign a document wrongly claiming they’d been referred to NAB via the bank’s Introducer Program, between 2012 and 2016.

The program pays commissions to professionals who aren’t employees of NAB, such as financial planners and real estate agents, who have successfully referred new customers to the bank.

Matthews is accused of conspiring with another man to split the commissions. He also faces 49 counts of obtaining property by deception, one charge of attempting to obtain property by deception, one charge of conspiring to defraud, and three counts of possessing the proceeds of crime, including a sports car and cash totalling $825,176.

In an official statement, NAB said it had identified the scam via its internal checks and review processes.

Matthews is currently on bail and will return to the Melbourne Magistrates Court in February for a committal mention.
 

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