Police have charged three accounting-firm employees as Strike Force Myddleton’s alleged finance-fraud network investigation expands.
Three employees of a Bankstown accounting firm, including its director, have been charged over their alleged roles in facilitating fraudulent loan applications linked to the so-called Penthouse Syndicate, as New South Wales Police widen its long-running investigation that has now resulted in charges against 33 people.
Financial Crimes Squad detectives allege that the three accounting professionals worked closely with the syndicate and exploited their positions to help approve and facilitate fraudulent lending applications.
The arrests came after detectives, assisted by the NSW Crime Commission, Australian Taxation Office, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and Tax Practitioners Board, executed a search warrant at the Bankstown firm at about 1pm on Wednesday, (9 September).
Police arrested the firm’s director and two accountants, who were taken to Bankstown Police Station.
A 46-year-old man was charged with knowingly directing the activities of a criminal group, 17 counts of making a false document to obtain a financial advantage, four counts of making, altering or failing to make an accounting document with intent to conceal a benefit, and nine counts of knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime.
The false-document charges are alleged to relate to $16.2 million in fraudulent loans.
A 34-year-old man was charged with participating in a criminal group and contributing to criminal activity, 17 counts of making a false document to obtain a financial advantage and four accounting-document-related offences allegedly intended to conceal a benefit.
Police allege the charges relate to $15.6 million in fraudulent loans.
Both men were refused bail and were due to appear at Bankstown Local Court on Thursday, (10 September).
A 28-year-old woman was also charged with participating in a criminal group and contributing to criminal activity, 17 counts of making a false document to obtain a financial advantage, and four accounting-document offences involving an alleged intention to conceal a benefit.
Police allege her charges relate to $14.5 million in fraudulent loans.
She was granted conditional bail and is scheduled to appear at Bankstown Local Court on 8 October.
The latest charges mark a further shift in Strike Force Myddleton’s focus towards the alleged professional facilitators around the syndicate, following earlier arrests involving former bankers, mortgage brokers, solicitors and real estate industry figures.
Alleged money mules also charged
The accounting-firm arrests followed earlier action by strike force detectives on 2 September, when search warrants were executed at homes in Smithfield and Cabramatta West.
Two women, aged 37 and 58, were arrested and taken to Cabramatta Police Station where they were charged with a litany of offences. Police allege they acted as money mules for the wider syndicate.
Police allege the 58 year olds deception-related charges concern $5.3 million in fraudulent loans, while the proceeds-of-crime allegations involve almost $1 million.
Meanwhile, authorities said the 58-year-old woman’s charged related to almost $13 million in fraudulent loans.
From ghost cars to property lending
Strike Force Myddleton was established in January 2024 by State Crime Command’s Financial Crimes Squad, to investigate the alleged Penthouse Syndicate.
The initial inquiry examined claims that stolen personal information had been used to apply for finance from automotive lenders to purchase high value “ghost cars”.
However, investigators said the alleged scheme later proved much broader, extending into personal, business and residential property lending across multiple financial institutions.
Police allege the network used false or manipulated documents and shell companies to obtain large loans, sometimes against properties with inflated valuations.
The alleged use of professionals in different parts of the credit and property ecosystem is central to the investigation.
Rather than operating solely through false borrower documents, police allege the group relied on people with access to, or knowledge of, processes governing loan origination, documentation, approval, settlement and the movement of funds.
Financial Crimes Squad commander Detective Superintendent Gordon Arbinja said the new arrests reflected the persistent and increasingly detailed nature of the investigation.
“The alleged conduct uncovered during this phase of the investigation shows a deliberate and coordinated effort to exploit loan systems, misuse personal information, and conceal the proceeds of crime through professional channels,” Det Supt Arbinja said.
“These arrests demonstrate the sophistication of the syndicate and the lengths it allegedly went to obtain fraudulent loans and launder millions of dollars.
“Our investigators, supported by partner agencies, will continue to pursue every individual who plays a role in facilitating organised financial crime.”
Earlier professional arrests
The Bankstown arrests follow a series of alleged professional-facilitator cases connected to Strike Force Myddleton.
In December 2025, former National Australia Bank (NAB) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) employee Andrew Hu, who later operated as a mortgage broker under Hai Money’s credit licence, was arrested and charged with 89 offences alleged to be connected to the Penthouse Syndicate.
Police alleged Hu helped the group defraud banks of more than $100 million.
Further, in late May, detectives arrested and charged a 34-year-old former NAB and CBA business development manager and a 35-year-old finance broker.
Police alleged the former banker used his authority within the bank to assist the group in obtaining more than $25 million in property loans secured by mortgages and more than $6 million in business facilities supported by false documentation.
Meanwhile, authorities alleged the broker prepared and submitted close to $13 million in loan applications using fabricated or altered documents.
Those matters remain before the courts.
The NSW Crime Commission has restrained $95 million in assets during the broader investigation.
Police alleged in May that the syndicate had defrauded banks of more than $250 million, yet subsequent reporting has suggested the suspected exposure could exceed $500 million, with all four major banks believed to be targeted.
Wider fraud concerns intensify
The latest arrests also arrive amid wider concern about suspected mortgage fraud and falsified loan documents across the financial system.
AUSTRAC’s Fintel Alliance launched Operation Claw in February, analysing information from 10 major banks to identify possible co-ordinated mortgage fraud.
The project identified potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in suspect lending, much of it connected to Sydney property.
The intelligence exercise identified suspected conduct involving overstated income, misrepresented employment and business activity that was either fabricated or could not be independently verified.
AUSTRAC has referred around 200 mortgage brokers, lawyers, accountants and companies to police, taxation authorities and ASIC where it suspected mortgage-fraud involvement or questionable conduct in the home-loan process.
“Recurring involvement of some brokers, accountants and other intermediaries was also identified,” AUSTRAC told The Adviser.
AUSTRAC also said it received about 1,800 suspicious matter reports after issuing an initial threat alert to more than 100 lenders and industry associations.
[Related: NAB calls for National Economic Crime Strategy amid growing mortgage fraud]
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