Former Perth finance broker Eric-John Larry Pryor has been sentenced in the Perth Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to two charges of fraud and one charge of giving false information.
Mr Pryor was sentenced to 22 months’ imprisonment, released on a recognisance order for 12 months, taking into account his guilty plea.
ASIC’s investigation found Mr Pryor, when brokering three motor vehicle finance contracts as an employee of Get Approved Finance, provided the lender, Esanda, with false information. These contracts stated that the person who had agreed to be the loan guarantor was the applicant and therefore would own the vehicle. Mr Pryor had advised his clients that they would be approved for vehicle finance if their loan applications were supported by guarantors.
Mr Pryor obtained a $28,000 pecuniary advantage for himself and others by fraudulently brokering two of the loans for an amount well above the purchase price of the financed vehicle.
This matter concludes a series of enforcement actions by ASIC, including permanently banning Mr Pryor and a colleague from engaging in credit activities and providing financial services (15-189MR) as well as other bannings of Get Approved Finance brokers (15-374MR, 16-116MR, 16-132MR).
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions prosecuted the matter after a brief and referral from ASIC.
Background
Esanda was formerly owned by ANZ. In October 2015, ANZ agreed to compensate more than 70 borrowers for car loans organised by Get Approved Finance (15-312MR). ANZ car loans, including those provided by lender Esanda, was a case study at the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry - Volume 2 of the Interim Report (page 94).
At the time of the conduct, Get Approved Finance was the trading name and operated under the Australian credit licence of West Australian-based finance broker Jeremy (WA) Pty Ltd. The company was deregistered in September 2017.
In July 2018, a former Get Approved Finance broker was sentenced in the Magistrates Court of Western Australia to 21 months’ imprisonment, released on a recognisance order for 12 months, after pleading guilty to one fraud charge and seven charges of giving false information to Esanda (18-207MR).