Commonwealth Bank has reported two yet-to-be-named mortgage brokers and numerous accountants to police after uncovering $1 billion in potentially fraudulent home loan applications. The move intensifies scrutiny of CBA’s referrer program and of broader mortgage broking channels that send customers to banks.
Mortgage Brokers and CBA referrals
Several accountants allegedly used fake income statements to inflate clients’ incomes and helped mortgage brokers push loans through while collecting commissions under CBA’s referrer program, which pays eligible partners an upfront fee when a loan is settled. The bank’s referrer program currently accepts referrals from accountants, solicitors, lawyers, conveyancers, real estate agents and financial planners. The pattern suggests that payment incentives in the referrer arrangement can be exploited when paired with falsified documents.
NSW Police and ASIC response
CBA has been working with NSW Police, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre after it reported itself less than two weeks earlier over suspected fraud. The bank suspects home loans were processed with fake documents and income statements, including AI-generated forms, and it has reported the two brokers and numerous accountants to the authorities. The involvement of NSW Police, ASIC and AUSTRAC suggests the matter is being treated as a multi-agency investigation rather than a single-bank compliance issue.
Referrer program and NAB penalty
Referrer schemes have previously drawn regulatory scrutiny: one major bank ended referral payments around 2019, and that bank was later fined $15 million in 2020 after ASIC uncovered misconduct in its referrer program between 2013 and 2016. Westpac and ANZ continue to operate referrer programs while CBA has said it is continually reviewing policies and processes to protect customers and the community. The history of a $15 million fine indicates regulators have penalized misconduct in referrer schemes before, raising the prospect of further enforcement or policy change for banks that still run such programs.
CBA has decided not to provide further comment for now, and the specific identities of the two brokers and the named accountants remain undisclosed. Which two individuals were referred to police and whether ASIC will pursue enforcement actions are the concrete open questions left by the bank’s disclosures; if NSW Police or ASIC pursue charges, the record of a $15 million penalty shows comparable enforcement outcomes are possible.
