SFO charges seven people over mortgage fraud

The Serious Fraud Office has charge seven people over a series of alleged mortgage frauds between July 2007 and December 2010.

The white-collar crime investigator has laid 48 Crimes Act charges against the group, with the primary defendant Eli Devoy, it said in a statement. Devoy, who goes by the name Ellie Stone, faces 26 charges and is accused of conducting a $9.2 million of property deals which deceived various banks into approving mortgage applications based on false documents and information.

"Financial crime in lending markets increases the cost of credit to all borrowers and has a direct impact on economic growth," acting chief executive Simon McArley said. "SFO is keen to work with lenders to reduce offending in this area and augment the deterrent effects of SFO's prosecution functions with improved lending practices and procedures."

The SFO launched its investigation in December 2011 after receiving a complaint about Devoy and her associates a month earlier.

The other defendants are Mehrdad Ghorbani, Mehran Ghorbani, Nasrin Kardani, Mehrzad Ghorbani, Hassan Salarpour and Javad Toraby.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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