The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is under investigation by authorities for failing to alert the police about fraud allegations involving the institution’s staff members. The scam, which amounted to a total of 76 million dollars was allegedly orchestrated by accountant Robert Zaia and professional poker player Bill Jordanou.
It was reported that the bank’s management had been aware of the fraud since February 2007. Furthermore, Fairfax Media noted that the bank’s staff members were involved in a Ponzi scheme that led to them receiving commissions that were then ignored by the CBA for almost five years.
Jordanou and Zaia allegedly used forged documents to borrow millions of dollars from unsuspecting clients’ accounts. The money was later used for property developments that never got off the ground.
The documents brought to light by Fairfax Media reveal the extent of the bank’s involvement in the scam. The CBA initially blocked the release of internal documents and emails, but was compelled by a court order to hand them over to one of the victims. The victim was Greek-Australian property developer Nick Fotopoulos, who lost more than 5 million dollars.
“CBA has zero tolerance to bribery, corruption and facilitation payments across the business and will continue to cooperate with the police and the legal process as this complicated issue unfolds in the courts,” noted a bank spokesperson.
The two alleged scammers will face court in February 2017 and are planning on pleading ‘not guilty’ to almost 100 fraud and deception offenses.
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