Financial Crimes Squad detectives have charged a man and executed two search warrants as part of an investigation into an allegedly fraudulent finance and loan applications under Strike Force Onsite.
Strike Force Onsite was established by State Crime Command’s Financial Crimes Squad – Fraud Unit in July 2023 to investigate a large-scale fraud syndicate involved in allegedly making fraudulent loan and finance applications to car dealerships and other finance companies.
It’s alleged between September 2022 to July 2023, the syndicate applied for fraudulent finance applications to at least three companies to the value of $2,147,535.00.
Following extensive inquiries, about 9am today (Friday 19 January 2024), Strike Force detectives, with the assistance of the Northwest Metropolitan Operations Support Group, executed two search warrants at a residence in Wentworth Falls and a business premises in Parramatta.
During searches at the properties, police located and seized multiple items including computers, mobile phones and financial documents.
At the Parramatta address, police arrested a 62-year-old man, who was taken to Merrylands Police Station where he was charged with 25 counts of make false documents.
The man was granted strict conditional bail to appear at Parramatta Local Court on Wednesday 14 February 2024.
Financial Crimes Squad Commander, Detective Acting Superintendent Con Galea, said officers have today further disrupted a criminal syndicate that allegedly utilises professional services to facilitate fraudulent car dealership finance applications.
“These organised crime syndicates use their skills and knowledge of business practices to generate further wealth for themselves and other criminal associates,” Det. A/Superintendent Galea said.
“To date, seven motor vehicles, which are alleged to be the proceeds of crime, have been seized by Strike Force Onsite Detectives and we are continuing to work in close collaboration with financial institutions to uncover the full extent of the alleged crimes committed.”
Investigations under Strike Force Onsite continue.
Anyone with information that may assist investigators is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report information via NSW Police social media pages.
