Box Hill branch focus of CBA fraud probe
Commonwealth Bank's Box Hill branch in Melbourne was allegedly the pivot for a long running fraud now the subject of prosecutions. Police last month charged professional poker player Bill Jordanou in connection with a fraud scheme alleged to have reaped A$100 million through the Commonwealth Bank over a decade. He faces more than 100 charges of obtaining a financial advantage, which was often in the form of a home loan or an electronic transfer into a home loan account. Â Property development loans were allegedly obtained with false documents including ATO documents, letters of employment and financial statements. Jordanou is also charged with conspiring to defraud a number of major financial institutions, including Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Bank, Bankwest, Bank of Melbourne and Bank of Queensland. The Sunday Age reported that CBA's internal fraud unit investigated one incident as early as 2007, leading to partial compensation for one pair of borrowers caught up in the fraud. The newspaper reported that allegedly fraudulent loans "were approved through the CBA's Box Hill branch, regardless of whether the properties were in Toorak, Brunswick, South Yarra, Mildura or New South Wales." Commonwealth Bank was approached for comment but a spokesperson said it was inappropriate to comment on a matter that was before the court.