ANZ bank as victim made a profit of eight million dollars. Property developer Leonard John Ross was sentenced to four years four months imprisonment for a $41 million dollar bank fraud, a sentence confirmed by the Court of Appeal.
This was far from a ‘victimless’ crime, the Court of Appeal said. Use of false financial information by Ross to get bank funding for the Waldorf Celestion Apartment development in Auckland’s central business district put the Bank at risk. A downturn in property prices would have left ANZ Bank exposed with consequences for its customers and the wider economy.
In 2008, Ross commenced development of the 127 apartment Celestion project as part of his Tasman Cook property group. ANZ Bank offered $40.4 million funding subject to a number of conditions: confirmation of the 120 pre-sales Ross said were already signed up and deposits for pre-sales to be held in a lawyer’s trust account. Subsequent enquiries identified that multiple ‘pre-sales’ did not exist; forged agreements for sale and purchase and forged sale commission details were used to hide the fraud. There were no deposits. These defaults could have left ANZ bank at risk; it could be left with losses if forced to take over the project. The completed project now trades as Nesuto Celestion Apartment Hotel in central Auckland. ANZ Bank made a profit of eight million dollars on its loan, through interest and fees charged.
Ross v. R – Court of Appeal (26.09.19)
19.173