The third broker to be punished in less than a week is a former NSW-based mortgage broker, convicted of falsifying loan application documents to secure almost $3.8m worth of home loans.
Moustafa Dandachli, also known as Muzi Dandachli, of Georges Hall, has been convicted of falsifying loan application documents following an ASIC investigation.
He pleaded guilty to 10 charges of providing false loan applications to lenders over a six-month period to secure approvals for home loans totalling almost $3.8 million.
The applications, for 10 people, included loans ranging from $196,000 to $640,000.
Dandachli admitted that he knew the income and employment documents contained in the loan applications were false or misleading, ASIC said.
On 23 May, the District Court of NSW sentenced Dandachli to nine months in jail and on his release be put on a two-year good behaviour bond.
The court took into consideration Dandachli’s level of cooperation with ASIC’s investigation, his remorse for acting dishonestly in this case and good prospects for rehabilitation.
ASIC deputy chairman
Peter Kell said loan fraud is unacceptable and ASIC’s campaign to identify and crackdown on loan fraud is continuing.
As a result of the misconduct, ASIC has permanently banned Dandachli from providing credit activities in the future.
ASIC has been busy hunting down rogue brokers lately, announcing yesterday the conviction of former finance broker Riyanka Puteri Shiraz, who admitted to using the identities of former clients to defraud a finance company to purchase two cars, sell them to friends and keep the cash from the sale.
The fraud occurred in July and August 2012 when Shiraz, of Canterbury, New South Wales, worked for finance broker We R Finance.
She was ordered to enter into two good behaviour bonds of 18 months and two years, to be served concurrently.
Last Friday ASIC also announced it had permanently banned Victorian finance broker Kieu Thi-Thanh Huynh from engaging in credit activities, after she was jailed for fraudulently getting her clients over $9 million worth of home loans.
Huynh, who was the director of St Andrews Mortgage Solutions, has been disqualified from managing a corporation for five years as a result of her conviction.
And a Southern Australia mortgage broker whose case is currently before the courts has admitted stealing $170,000 from his clients, and is likely to face more charges.
Malcolm Royce Jones, 52, of Woodville North, appeared in the District Court of South Australia on 7 May.
While he has admitted one aggravated count of dishonestly dealing with a document and one count of attempted deception, prosecutor Peter Longson told the court that up to 78 further charges worth "millions" may be filed against him, reported local newspaper
Adelaide Now.
Jones is currently on bail until next month.
Since taking over national responsibility for credit in 2010, ASIC has taken a number of steps to punish brokers for submitting fraudulent loan applications and similar behaviour.
Two brokers have been criminally convicted, 10 have been banned from the profession, and three have been hit with both punishments.
MORE:
Former finance broker steals clients' identities
ASIC bans fraudster broker
ASIC does not target brokers, says Kell
