17 June 2016
Devoy guilty of conceiving complex mortgage fraud

An Auckland woman and a number of her relatives and associates have been found guilty of Crimes Act charges laid by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) following a 10 week trial in the Auckland District Court.

The principal defendant in the extensive mortgage fraud scheme is 47 year-old Eli Devoy (AKA Ellie Stone, AKA Eli Ghorbani, AKA Elaheh Ghorbani Sar Sangi).

Mrs Devoy conducted a series of property sales and purchases between July 2007 and December 2010 which deceived lending institutions into approving mortgage applications that contained false information and supporting documents.

The six additional defendants who participated in Mrs Devoy’s scheme are Mehrdad Ghorbani (AKA Mohammad Ghorbani Sarsangi), Mehrzad Ghorbani (AKA Mehdi Ghorbani), Hassan Salarpour, Nasrin Kardani, Mehran Ghorbani (AKA Massoud Ghorbani, AKA Ken Williams) and Javad Toraby.

The fraudulent scheme involved 11 properties in the Auckland area and amounted to approximately $9.2 million.

SFO Director, Julie Read said, “This is an important case for genuine buyers who are applying for mortgages as the cost of borrowing is increased by this sort of fraudulent conduct. We will continue to work with banks who are targeted with false information. Every lender should be monitoring this risk and people applying for mortgages should be aware that there are significant penalties for those who do not provide truthful information.”

The defendants will reappear for sentencing on 17 August 2016.

ENDS

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