The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) brought charges against Ramni Kumar (45) and Vicki Ravana Letele (32) in the Manukau District Court on June 26.
Ms Kumar and Ms Letele face 10 joint charges under Section 228 of the Crimes Act for dishonestly using a document. The charges relate to 10 property transactions undertaken during the second half of 2010. Letele faces one additional charge under Section 228 alone. The total value of the alleged fraud is $3.9 million.
Ms Letele was the sole director/shareholder of Focus Property Investment Ltd (Focus). On July 9, 2011 she resigned her directorship and the company was placed into liquidation on January 31, 2012.
Focus was established to broker the selling and arranging of mortgages for first home buyers on low income.
SFO alleges that Ms Kumar and Ms Letele conspired to obtain mortgage finance for low income families who would not otherwise have been able to obtain finance, by using false documentation. It is also alleged that when the eventual purchases took place, the properties were purchased from interests related to Ms Kumar and Ms Letele, generating a profit.
SFO Acting Chief Executive Simon McArley said, “Mortgage fraud not only increases overall borrowing costs but also leaves vulnerable families burdened with insupportable debt. Where SFO believes organised or coordinated mortgage fraud is taking place, it will intervene to disrupt and deter this activity.”
The accused will reappear on 18 July.
Ex-bank employee, Vinod Rathore, who approved loan applications is also subject to the SFO charges in this investigation. He currently resides in Australia.
