Aggregation group Finsure has been implicated in allegations relating to suspected mortgage fraud, with The Australian Financial Review reporting that bankers have said ‘people within its network’ may be involved in fraudulent home loan applications.
In an opinion piece published on the Financial Review on Friday (10 April), associate editor Joyce Moullakis reported that the current probe being undertaken by lenders and regulators “has identified the involvement of bankers and mortgage brokers in the Chinese community, alongside money mules, and accountants… there are also suspected connections to Middle Eastern crime gangs”.
She said that two banks had told the column that “Finsure has had people within its network implicated in potential loan fraud”.
In a statement to The Adviser, Finsure CEO Simon Bednar noted that it had “not been directly contacted by any lenders or regulators…
CLICK HERE to read the FULL Major aggregator flagged in mortgage fraud probe – The Adviser article.
PAYROLL & HR CONTROLS (PREVENTING “GHOST” SCHEMES)
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.