Police allege a Sydney broker and former bank manager helped an organised crime group orchestrate tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent mortgages and business loans.
NSW Police and the NSW Crime Commission said the latest arrests under Strike Force Myddleton mark a shift from targeting frontline syndicate members to pursuing banking and broking professionals accused of using their positions to push sham applications through mainstream institutions.
In the early hours of Tuesday (26 May), detectives from the State Crime Command’s Financial Crimes Squad, assisted by the Raptor Squad, executed a search warrant at an apartment in Wentworth Point in Sydney’s west.
There, they arrested a 34‑year‑old man, a former business development manager with a bank, and a 35‑year‑old woman who worked as a finance broker.
Investigators allege the man drew on his senior role inside the bank to get fraudulent deals across the line.
Police said he used his authority to help the Penthouse Syndicate obtain more than $25 million in property loans secured by mortgages and over $6 million in business facilities by facilitating and approving applications underpinned by false documentation.
The woman is alleged to have acted as a key conduit between the criminal group and multiple lenders.
According to police, she prepared and submitted close to $13 million in loan applications using fabricated or doctored paperwork.
Both were taken to Auburn Police Station and later appeared before Burwood Local Court on Wednesday (27 May), where they were refused bail.
The former banker has been charged with participating in a criminal group and contributing to criminal activity, along with 19 counts of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception.
The broker faces charges of participating in a criminal group and contributing to criminal activity, three counts of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception, and one count of attempting to do so.
Media reports have identified the broker as Thu Huong Nguyen, who operates brokerage HTN Finance, and the ex-banker as former National Australia Bank (NAB) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) employee Huy Tin Nguyen.
From ‘ghost cars’ to large‑scale mortgage fraud
The arrests sit within a two‑year investigation into what authorities describe as a sophisticated, multi‑layered crime group.
Strike Force Myddleton was established in January 2024 by the Financial Crimes Squad, with support from the NSW Crime Commission, to look into a syndicate allegedly targeting automotive financiers.
Early work suggested the operation was using stolen identity information to obtain loans for luxury vehicles that existed only on paper – so‑called “ghost cars.”
Yet authorities then uncovered a much broader pattern of offending, with the same network allegedly expanding into personal loans, business lending, and home loans at several large institutions.
Police now allege the Penthouse Syndicate has defrauded major banks of more than $250 million.
The NSW Crime Commission has so far restrained around $95 million in property, cash, cars, and luxury items linked to alleged participants.
Twenty‑five people have already been charged under the strike force before this week’s arrests and remain before the courts.
Those charged include former NAB senior business banking manager Timotius “Donny” Sungkar, who was accused in November 2025 of helping arrange about $10 million in fraudulent business loans by fast‑tracking applications for shell companies.
In December 2025, ex‑NAB and CBA employee Andrew W. Hu, who later operated as a mortgage broker, was charged over allegedly assisting the syndicate to secure close to $100 million in sham mortgage and business facilities.
Aggregator Finsure terminated its sub‑aggregation agreement with Hai Money in late April, after lenders (including NAB and CBA) raised red flags about potential broker misconduct within the Hai Money network, which included Hu, with the banks eventually opting to terminate all Hai Money brokers.
In April this year, solicitor Elic Tang was charged in relation to more than $25 million in alleged fraudulent property transactions, becoming the first legal practitioner charged under the operation.
Investigators zero in on ‘professional facilitators’
Financial Crimes Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Gordon Arbinja said police were now looking closely at industry professionals whose alleged co-operation allowed the syndicate to operate at scale.
“Strike Force Myddleton has reached a significant midpoint in its investigations, and our focus is now shifting toward professional facilitators – the bankers, brokers, lawyers and accountants who enable this type of offending,” Arbinja said.
“These corrupt insiders undermine the integrity of Australia’s lending system, and without their involvement, fraud on this scale simply wouldn’t be possible.
“The community expects financial institutions to be safe and trustworthy, and we will not hesitate to hold to account anyone who abuses their position for criminal gain.”
A syndicate allegedly built on insider expertise
Investigators explained what set the Penthouse Syndicate apart was not just the dollar amount involved, but the way it allegedly embedded itself inside mainstream finance.
Rather than relying solely on fabricated documents, the group is accused of systematically recruiting or corrupting people at each stage of the lending chain – from front‑end brokers to bank staff with sign‑off authority.
Each alleged insider brought different pieces of institutional knowledge, such as how particular lenders test serviceability, what red flags their systems look for, and how documentation is usually structured.
On 27 February, it emerged that Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) had self‑reported to police and corporate regulators over potential mortgage fraud totalling about $1 billion.
According to The Australian Financial Review reporting, suspect loans linked to the CBA matter were written both through mortgage brokers and via the bank’s own introducer scheme, with “several accountants” said to have supplied questionable income statements.
AUSTRAC confirmed to The Adviser that it was currently working with major banks, law enforcement, and other regulators to map how far sophisticated loan fraud had spread and warned of increasingly complex schemes that exploit both technology and intermediaries.
AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas recently told The Adviser that the financial intelligence agency was assessing the breadth of the problem and noted emerging typologies where criminals use doctored or AI‑generated documents to wash profits from offences, such as drug trafficking and human exploitation, into home loans.
[Related: Melbourne accountant charged amid widening mortgage fraud probe]
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