Former Sydney finance broker, Ms Jennifer Mary Farias, today pleaded guilty today to three charges of loan fraud which resulted in her receiving more than $100,000.

Ms Farias was the director of finance broker, Mortgage Finance & Insurance Pty Ltd trading as Up N Riding (MFI). MFI arranged finance for vehicles such as motorcycles, cars and jet skis on behalf of clients.

Appearing in the NSW Local Court at the Downing Centre in Sydney, Ms Farias admitted to having received $96,270 in loan funds and $10,349.26 in commissions from a credit provider as a result of submitting 10 loan applications, through MFI, which contained false information and false invoices.

The invoices contained false information relied on by the credit provider when approving loans. Ms Farias admitted the relevant loans would not have otherwise satisfied the credit provider's lending policies or would have been subject to more stringent lending policies. The false information contained in the invoices included:

• a Mercedes Benz car had been sold by a dealer for $20,000 when in fact it had been a private sale for about $9,000;
• a customer had bought a 2012 Toyota Landcruiser Prado with 62,036 kilometres on the odometer for $48,000 with a $25,000 deposit when in fact a 2006 Toyota Landcruiser Prado with 192,036 kilometres on the odometer was purchased for $21,500 with no deposit;
• customers had bought on-road registrable motorcycles when in fact they bought off-road four wheel quad bikes; and
• a customer had bought a jet ski for $15,000 with a deposit of $6,250 when in fact the jet ski had been purchased for $10,750 with a deposit of $2,000.

The false invoices also stated that approved loan funds should be deposited into bank accounts controlled by Ms Farias rather than into those of the vehicle suppliers entitled to the proceeds of the loan funds.

One loan application was also supported by a false payslip purporting to show a customer had earned year to date income of $30,857.86 when in fact he had only earned $8,496.04.

An additional $20,000 in loan funds and $4,675.80 in commissions received as a result of fraudulent invoices were transferred by Ms Farias to independent referrers or others who benefited from the supply of the false information.

The matter has been held over to 10 May 2016.

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions is prosecuting the matter.

Background

Since becoming the national regulator of consumer credit on 1 July 2010, ASIC has banned 62 individuals or companies from providing credit services or had their credit licences revoked (including 27 permanent bans and 17 cancellations or suspensions) in relation to false loans. Since July 2010, ASIC has also brought criminal prosecutions against 11 credit service providers.

Editor's note:

On 10 May 2016, the matter was held over until 28 June 2016.