9 February 2018

Property developer jailed for mortgage fraud

A property developer at the centre of a mortgage fraud scheme involving about 75 properties in Hamilton and Auckland has been sentenced to four years and seven months in prison with a minimum non-parole period of two years and three months for charges brought by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

Kang (Thomas) Huang, also known as Gang Wang, was sentenced today in the Auckland High Court. Mr Huang pleaded guilty to all ten charges he faced on 21 December 2017, which were eight charges of ‘Obtaining by Deception’, one charge of ‘Corruptly Giving Consideration to an Agent’, and one charge of ‘Dishonest Use of a Document’.

Mr Huang operated a property development business and was charged with providing false documents or information to several banks across multiple home loan applications. He was also charged with bribing a bank employee. Mr Huang dishonestly obtained about $52 million of loans through these activities.

The other defendants in the case, Mr Huang’s wife, Kang Xu (also known as Yan (Jenny) Zhang), lawyer Gang (Richard) Chen and former bank employee Zongliang (Charly) Jiang, are due to appear in the Auckland High Court for trial commencing on 26 February.

SFO Director, Julie Read said, “Such use of deception, and bribery in one instance, undermines lenders’ confidence in borrowers in the mortgage market. If banks have to introduce additional checks, these costs may be passed on to borrowers increasing the cost of mortgages for all. The sentence imposed today reflects the serious nature of misconduct in this case. The SFO is committed to investigating and prosecuting this kind of offending to maintain the integrity of the mortgage market and preserve New Zealand’s reputation for having corruption free business practices.”

ENDS

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