A former broker has appeared before Perth Magistrates Court charged with seven counts of giving false information and one fraud charge following an investigation by ASIC.
Peter Lachlan McDonald previously worked at Get Approved Finance, but was permanently banned in 2015 alongside another employee. Several others from the firm have also been banned over the past few years.
ASIC alleged that between January 2013 and April 2013, McDonald provided incorrect information to ANZ-owned lender Esanda while brokering four motor vehicle finance contracts.
He had advised his clients that due to their poor credit histories, they would need to provide guarantors to be approved vehicle finance. He went on to provide Esanda with the details of the guarantors, presenting them as the borrowers who would ultimately own the vehicle.
In two further loan applications, McDonald is alleged to have provided information to Esanda that falsely represented that insurance quotes were in fact issued insurance policies, knowing that Esanda required all financed vehicles to be insured before loans were approved.
In one additional application, although his client had agreed to pay an extended warranty policy, it is alleged McDonald signed the document as his client and then submitted those document to Esanda.
In relation to one of the seven loan applications, McDonald is also alleged to have acted fraudulently by artificially interposing a third party vendor while telling his client that the vehicle being purchased on credit was being sourced directly from a car dealership. In doing so, he gained a pecuniary benefit for himself.
The false information charges carry maximum penalties of one year imprisonment and fines of $10,200 and the fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment and a fine of $24,000.
McDonald entered a plea of guilty to the charges and was bailed to appear on 10 May 2018 for sentencing.
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions is prosecuting the matter.
In October 2015, ANZ agreed to compensate more than 70 borrowers for car loans organised by Get Approved Finance.
