The senior management of Australia’s leading Banks went before the Australian Senate on Tuesday to answer questions regarding widespread fraud in their Superannuation / Wealth Management departments. Last year alone almost $80 million was paid to victims of the banks frauds. What was obvious at the senate hearing is the contempt the banks still have for Australian Laws, the Senate and their customers.
The widespread frauds by the banks staff have been in the media for years yet the CEOs showed up at the Senate hearing admitting they needed to do a lot more to stop the frauds and pay compensation to customers.
The worst offender at this stage would have to be the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, who are run by dodgy CEO Ian Narev, and which paid back $52 million to more than 1000 customers last year. The CBA is also funding the defamation proceedings of a staff member against a whistleblower which is extremely dirty pool to say the least. (Click here to read more)
- “The fraud bank”
Ian Narev told the senate hearing that the CBA’s new compensation scheme which the bank set up 6 months ago has had over 20,000 queries. Of that almost 5000 requests were made for their accounts to be reviewed for possible fraud and 207 offers were made for compensation but “We’ve only paid to about three customers so far”. (Click here to read more)
Yep, that is exactly what Ian Narev told the senate and let’s repeat it “We’ve only paid to about three customers so far”. What makes matters worse is the fact that the CBA has 400 staff working on their new compensation scheme which means a lot of people are not doing their job.
400 staff divided by 3 paid customers equals a hell of a lot of lazy staff or a compensation scheme deliberately run as nothing more than a joke
For Narev to show up to the Senate Inquiry and actually say what he did shows how much contempt he has for Australian Laws, the Senate and his customers. Some of his answers were clearly lies. The other CEOs of the other banks were not much better than (but quite as bad as) Narev.
Commonwealth Bank stalking and harassing whistleblower Michael Fraser
The Commonwealth Bank are paying the legal fees of their staff member and senior executive Brendon French to sue CBA fraud whistleblower Michael Fraser. The claim is very dodgy given the amount of fraud and theft that goes on at the bank. The approval for the bank paying the legal fees would have to of come from CEO Ian Narev and possibly the bank’s board of directors. (Click here to read more) The matter has been sent to mediation by Justice Lucy McCallum to attempt resolution. If the mediation fails a trial would be held later this year or sometime next year.
The banker’s scandalous and obvious plan on compensation
The strategy by the banks is very obvious and an old routine. Drag out the compensation payment scheme as long as possible so people get tired or desperate waiting for their money. That way the customer accepts a reduced offer from the bank and the bank saves millions. The banks would also be aware that some customers will die before they get compensation so they will have to pay them nothing.
The bank’s delaying tactics on compensation is not accidental and it is clearly coordinated between them to some degree. Maybe the ACCC should investigate for breaches of the Trade Practices Act
Why Australian Banks lie and deceive the customers
The main reason banks lie and deceive is because they can as no one stops them and their competitors do. The banks think if they stop their sales staff from pushing and overstepping the boundaries of selling then they will lose customers to the other banks. So for a long time they have deliberately turned a blind eye to the frauds. The vast majority of the time they have also deliberately helped cover-up the frauds.
Weak government and regulatory bodies
Regulatory bodies like the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) have been a total failure on this issue and should be closed down and rebuilt. The federal government should have set up a Royal Commission last year into the banks and the Labor Party also should have done a lot more when they were last in power but they are making the right noises now.
If the federal government do not move to set up a Royal Commission in the near future then they leave the door open for the Labor Party to make that one of their promises at the next federal election which is next year. That will be a big vote winner as every working adult has superannuation and it will be an election issue. Prime Minister Tony Abbott needs to wake up to that fast otherwise the government will lose a lot of votes.
The battle with the banks is a long way from finished but they are on the back foot and it is battle that needs to be won because it affects every Australian’s future.
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Categories: ANZ, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Macquarie Bank, National Australia Bank, Westpac
Commonwealth Bank now employs the Wealth Manager (SD) who was working at the NAB who sacked him in 2012 after Westpac sacked him in 2009 when they discovered how much Westpac was defrauded off by SD’s mate Mario Girardo one of the main players in the Gold Coast beach front frauds. On one transaction SD lent $6,800,000 of westpac funds in 2006 to Girardo on a property worth $3,500,000 but which a dodgy valuer valued at $8,500,000. When westpac sold property in 2008, they got $3,500,000 which was the true value.
Westpac lost over $20 million to Girardo thanks to SD. A senior Westpac executive in Brisbane admitted to Gail Kelly ( see KCA article on this page ) in 2008 that the bank had been defrauded but Kelly and the board of westpac closed ranks and have refused to make a written to Qld Police fraud squad who therefore cannot lay fraud charges against Girardo. The Police tell me that they have enough evidence to put Girardo away for 10 years but are frustrated that the four banks defrauded by him NAB, CBA, ANZ and Westpac will not make formal complaints of the frauds.
Girardo was sentenced to 6 years jail in 2011 for kidnapping and extortion of Gold Coast partner. Girardo was sentenced to 18 months jail in 2001 for defrauding the Commonwealth Bank in 2001
I sent an email to Narev in 2014, to the new manager of NAB in 2014, to the auditors and Gail Kelly of Westpac ( as did KCA ) but none of them replied to me
You are so right about ASIC. It should be abolished and the government needs to start again. They are run and staffed by incompetent morons. As for the big banks, they should not be allowed to own financial planning firms as well as managed funds, a recipe for disaster.
What happened to ‘Bank Commonwealth, the Government Bank For Australians’ type ads. Yes, we know what happened, no thanks to Keating, so loyal to Australia with his, “Australia is the a—–hole of the world”,comment, and Narev and his ilk take it as open licence to rip off and defraud the bank’s customers.
Westpac still asking friends to have a financial adviser assist them – turns out they didn’t need one on all counts – and all were offered “this service” for $4000 plus, when friends said they didn’t need a “financial adviser” the bank then offered a “reduced” amount down to $2500 – so they are still doing this rip off.
The banks might well be grubs but really, who could have anything but contempt for Dastyari and Milne? If I was called in front of them regardless of my guilt I’d tell them to get lost given their own despicable records.
Reblogged this on Real News Australia.
Banking in our Modern Society is now an Essential Service that though our Government, is the only Industry and Businesses that we Guarantee and Effectively Underwrite at the cost to all Taxpayers .. if we don’t do something now and the next GFC comes, everyone will suffer even more than they are now .. !!
In an interview with the ABC show “The Drum”, CBA Whistleblower Jeff Morris discusses that 10’s of Thousands of the Commonwealth Banks customers have been allegedly Ripped Off , with many of them Elderly, Sick (and or Disabled) and even now DEAD, in what is turning out to be the Nations Largest Banking Scandal EVER …!!
Now the crisis has effected ANZ, National Australia Bank, Westpac, Macquarie Bank, AMP and St George Bank Customers, with some serious questions about to asked of the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank amongst other 2nd Tier Banks…!!
One can only speculate the reasons why the Abbott LNP Government isn’t all over this with a Royal Commission (at this point it looks like Political Suicide not to), that being said the track record of Royal Commissions concluding in the actual prosecutions of perpetrators of White Collar Crimes and Corruption is not a record to be proud of, is it..??
You mean “when” the next GFC comes, although I’d question whether the 2008 one has ever really ended. You need only look to American and English banks to see how deep the fraud is allowed to go when the bottom-line is at stake for the one-percent club.