A former NAB branch manager has been banned from engaging in credit activities for seven years after the lender found some home loans were not established in accordance with policies.
The ban is the result of an on-going Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) investigation, which last week saw two other former NAB employees banned from engaging in credit activities and providing financial services
The investigation follows a breach report lodged by NAB alleging that bank employees in the greater western Sydney area were accepting false documents in support of loan applications and falsely attributing loans as having been referred by NAB introducers in order to obtain undue commissions.
ASIC found that Rabih Awad recklessly gave NAB information and documentation in loan applications that was false or misleading. Mr Awad was found to have given NAB false payslips, letters of employment, and entered false referee contact details in NAB’s lending systems in multiple home loan applications.
He has now been banned from engaging in credit activities and providing financial services for seven years.
A majority of the false documentation submitted to NAB by Awad was provided to him by a real estate agent who was previously registered as a NAB Introducer.
ASIC also found that Awad received the false documents directly from the NAB Introducer rather than the customer, in violation of NAB’s Introducer Program and on occasion, Awad received false documents from the NAB Introducer via email to his personal email account, before forwarding the documents to his NAB email account and subsequently attaching them to various customers loan applications.
Awad has the right to lodge an application for review of ASIC’s decision with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
On 16 November 2017, NAB announced a remediation program for home loan customers after an internal review, prompted by whistleblower reports it had received, found that some home loans may not have been established in accordance with NAB’s policies.
NAB identified that around 2,300 home loans since 2013 may have been submitted with inaccurate customer information and/or documentation, or incorrect information in relation to NAB’s Introducer Program.
In a statement NAB said, "NAB welcomes this decision. Mr Awad was terminated from his employment with NAB in December 2015, and NAB reported him to ASIC.
"The ban follows NAB’s announcement of a remediation program for home loan customers in November 2017, after an internal review found some home loans may have been submitted with inaccurate customer information and/or documentation, or incorrect information in relation to NAB’s Introducer Program."
