Shiwei (Darren) He, a former mortgage broker from Sydney, NSW, has been sentenced at the Downing Centre Local Court for making a false statement to ASIC.

On 12 April 2022, Mr He was sentenced and released without proceeding to conviction after entering into a $5000 recognizance to be of good behaviour for two years.

Mr He is a director of N V I Lending Pty Ltd, trading as General Mortgage. In February 2019, he stated in a credit licence annual compliance certificate lodged with ASIC that none of the fit and proper people under his Australian credit licence, including himself, had had their accreditation suspended or cancelled by a lender, or their membership with an aggregator terminated.

Mr He knew this statement was false as his accreditations with the Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, NAB and Westpac had been suspended or cancelled between 2016 and 2018.  Mr He also knew that his introducer agreement with the Beagle Finance aggregator service, trading as Loankit, had been terminated in 2018.

Mr He pleaded guilty to the offence on 7 February 2022 (22-015MR). Magistrate Barko considered multiple factors when handing down his sentence, including Mr He’s guilty plea and prospect for rehabilitation.

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions prosecuted the matter after a referral from ASIC.

Background

Australian credit licence holders are required to annually lodge an Australian credit licence compliance certificate with ASIC, in accordance with their credit licence obligations.

Accurate compliance reporting is a critical obligation for credit licensees and ensures consumers can have confidence in the businesses they look to when applying for credit.