The corporate regulator will conduct a sweeping review of lender conduct, including the use of mortgage brokers and introducers such as lawyers and accountants, in response to at least $4 billion of suspected home loan fraud infecting the portfolios of the nation’s five biggest banks.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission flagged the review, which will also consider banker bonuses and pay, in a letter sent to bank boards and executives on Wednesday.
Loading…
Subscribe to gift this article
Gift articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.
Payroll fraud is often the hardest to detect because it “looks” like a normal business expense.
Segregation of Duties (SoD): The person who adds new employees to the system must not be the same person who approves the monthly pay run.
Mandatory Vacation Policy: Require all financial and HR staff to take 5–10 consecutive days of leave annually. Fraud often surfaces when the perpetrator isn’t there to “hide” the trail.
Ghost Employee Audit: Perform a quarterly “Headcount Reconciliation” where managers must physically verify every name on their payroll list exists.
Self-Pay Blocking: Ensure the payroll software has a hard-coded block preventing administrators from editing their own salary or bank details.
