Ex Aussie mortgage broker faces jail sentence over $2.7m loan fraud
Former Brisbane-based mortgate broker, Emma Feduniw, is facing a possible custodial sentence over her role in falsifying eight home loan applications totally $2,720,400, following an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
In a statement, the regulator said that Feduniw (also known as Emma Khalil) was a mortgage broker through AHL Investments Pty Ltd, trading as Aussie, when she reportedly falsified employment letters to secure approvals for loans through Westpac.
ASIC said, five applications approved paying Feduniw a total commission of over $6,840.
The loan values ranged from $250,000 to $480,000.
She appeared before Beenleigh's Magistrates Court and through her solicitor, admitted to eight charges of providing documents knowing they were false or misleading.
ASIC deputy chairman Peter Kell said, "Credit laws are designed to ensure borrowers do not take out loans they cannot afford. Actions by mortgage brokers to circumvent the laws, for their own benefit, erode trust and confidence in the mortgage broking industry and will not be tolerated."
Feduniw will appear before court in June for sentencing and could face two years behind bars or a fine, for each charge.
Recommended for you
As the first quarter of 2024 comes to a close, Money Management looks back on the corporate regulator’s bans and AFSL cancellations in the financial advice sector.
Insignia Financial is holding ‘relatively steady’ onto its rank as Australia’s second-largest financial advice licensee after the Godfrey Pembroke exit but Count is hot on its heels.
Liberal senator Slade Brockman has said the government needs to have a “cold hard look” at the level of regulation in the financial advice space and the costs of running a business.
FAAA chief executive, Sarah Abood, has warned changes in the first tranche of the QAR legislation around advice fees documentation could create more work for advisers rather than less.