A broker who pleaded guilty to one count of breaching the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 in October, after having been charged with three counts of knowingly making false statements to ASIC in September, has this week received his sentencing.
Zhuo Wang, a mortgage broker from New South Wales, has been sentenced in the NSW Local Court to an 18-month good behaviour bond for his deception.
A good behaviour bond is an order that can be handed down by a magistrate that allows an offender to be released into the community rather than serve time in jail, so long as that person adheres to ‘good behaviour’ for the duration of the period.
The specific conditions of the bond are proposed to the defendant, who must accept the terms and sign as a promise to comply with them.
Wang holds an Australian credit licence and operates a mortgage brokerage business in Gladesville, a suburb in the Lower North Shore of Sydney.
His misconduct occurred over a two-year span as, despite having his lender accreditation with ANZ suspended in April 2016, Wang completed and submitted three credit licence annual compliance certificates to ASIC between May 2016 and May 2018 which stated that he, as the sole fit and proper people of his credit licence, had not had his accreditation cancelled or suspended by any lender.
All credit licence holders are required to lodge these compliance certificate with ASIC on an annual basis, where they are expected to be transparent and truthful, in order that the regulator can ensure all licensees are complying with their credit licence obligations.
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions prosecuted the matter after a referral from ASIC.
