ASIC defends loan fraud investigation
The corporate regulator has hit out at the media for saying it bungled a loan fraud case worth $110 million, claiming the transgression it's being blamed for is outside its remit.
Late last week, media outlets claimed the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) failed to stop a mortgage broker and suspected fraudster of from leaving Australia, despite the figure being under investigation.
ASIC has been long running an investigation into Myra Financial Services and media outlets reported that one of the key figures in the case has recently left the country.
ASIC called the articles "inaccurate and speculative" and said it's not the role of the regulator to restrict travel.
"The decision to seek orders from a court to restrict a person's travel movements is not taken lightly, and court orders are not obtained routinely," it said in a statement.
"Importantly, it is not ASIC that decides if an individual is to be prevented from travelling. That decision that can only be made by a judge once an application has been successfully made to a court, which includes giving the affected person the right to respond."
It also said efforts to ban travel could "twart" an investigation.
ASIC said while it is committed to transparency, through periodical updates, "there are some important parts of the investigation which we are not able to divulge".
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