Stuff
Four people, including property investor Viki Cotter, participated in a scheme to obtain $8.7 million in mortgages. (File photo)
A “naive” property investor who took part in a multimillion-dollar home loan fraud has been sentenced to nine months’ home detention.
Viki Cotter, 58, appeared at the Auckland District Court on Thursday. She previously admitted deceiving banks into providing loans to buy homes in Auckland.
The charges were laid by the Serious Fraud Office Te Tari Hara Tāware.
Judge Stephen Bonnar said Cotter’s offending was a fall from grace.
READ MORE:
* Last two people in SFO’s $8.7 million mortgage fraud case found guilty
* Second guilty plea in Serious Fraud Office’s Auckland property fraud case
* Auckland investor pleads guilty to deceiving banks to get loans to buy homes
Cotter’s former partner Bryan Martin was earlier found guilty at trial of using fake employment agreements to defraud banks out of $8.7 million.
He was found guilty, along with Joshua Grant, whose wife, Sian Grant, also admitted her part in the scheme.
”Both couples sought to invest in the Auckland property market, however did not have the income needed to secure loans,” the Serious Fraud Office previously said.
Martin used a non-trading entity, Momentum Transition Developments, and created fake employment agreements for Cotter and Grant.
AARON WOOD/STUFF
It can be tough to get your finances ready to impress the bank manager – here are some things that can help.
Money was moved between his own private bank account, as well as Cotter’s and the Grants’, which enabled the group to give the impression that they received regular salaries.
Mortgage applications were initially submitted through a brokerage where Cotter was a licensed broker, and later in person.
In total, 14 loan applications were made between July 2015 and September 2016.
In 2015, ASB approved a loan for a $1.1 million property in Flat Bush, where Cotter became the registered owner under her maiden name.
“In the context of these frauds you were involved in them by being recorded as the borrower and the broker of the transaction, but using your different names,” Judge Bonnar said.
The fact the borrower and broker were the same person was not disclosed.
At sentencing on Thursday, Cotter’s lawyer, Yvonne Mortimer-Wang, submitted her client had led a sheltered life and her naivety was exploited by Martin.
Cotter read a letter to the court saying she was no longer the same vulnerable person and was very sorry for what happened.
“If I could go back in time, I would never trust someone blindly, who lied, bullied and manipulated me.”
Judge Bonnar accepted Cotter was not the architect of the scheme.
However, she had tried to transfer “most, if not all the blame” onto Martin, he said.
“You are also to blame. You participated in this scheme.”
SFO director Karen Chang previously said the defendants’ desire to enter the then-growing property market led them to create an “elaborate scheme” intended to deceive the banks into lending them millions of dollars.
“This type of criminal offending is ultimately harmful to New Zealanders who seek mortgage finance in good faith but miss out because lending was taken up by others through fraud.
“It impacts on banks and damages the trust between banks, mortgage brokers and consumers,” Chang said.
Martin and the Grants will be sentenced in March.
Source: news.google.com