Property developer sentenced for $47 million mortgage fraud

Malcolm Duncan Mayer (57) was sentenced today in the Auckland District Court to six years’ imprisonment for orchestrating a $47 million mortgage fraud.

The former Auckland property developer was found guilty in December last year of 16 charges of dishonestly using a document and 10 charges of using forged documents. The prosecution of Mr Mayer was brought by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

Mr Mayer had used false loan applications and submitted them to fund management company Trustees Executors Limited (TEL) for 26 properties in and around the Auckland region, between December 2003 and August 2007.

He used a variety of means to mislead TEL into lending the money, including dishonestly using relatives’ and associates’ names to secure the loan funds, using false sale and purchase agreements and false leases to support valuations, and making false statements about the supposed applicant's deposit or contribution to the purchase.

SFO Director, Julie Read said, “Mr Mayer’s sentencing should give those seeking mortgage funding some confidence that criminals who use dishonest means in attempts to beat the system and subsequently pass on the costs to honest borrowers, will be caught and held to account.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media