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Two men extradited from Australia to United States over alleged $64 million scheme – 28 January 2021
Michael Pearse and Yongchao Liu have been extradited to the United States from Australia, to face charges over their alleged roles in a scheme to swindle hundreds of thousands of mobile phone users, out of more than 64.6 million. They allegedly used a practice called “auto-subscribing” to charge monthly fees for unsolicited messages about celebrity gossip, horoscopes, jokes, love tips and trivia, without customers’ knowledge or permission.
Government inquiry clears former Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate of wrongdoing, but reveals more corporate credit card spending – 27 January 2021
The federal government has published its previously unreleased report into former Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate’s decision to gift four luxury watches to staff members. The report found that the gifting of the $20,000 watches to employees, did not amount to corruption or fraud but was “inconsistent with public expectations”.
Australia: ‘Asian El-Chapo’ Arrested, Cyber-Fraud and Darknet Busts – 27 January 2021
The Australia’s Federal Police (AFP) said that a man had been detained in The Netherlands, at the request of Interpol, pursuant to an Australian arrest warrant issued in 2019 as part of ‘Operation Volante,’ a seven-year investigation into “a global crime syndicate operating in five countries.” The organisation is allegedly responsible for funnelling multi-tonne quantities of drugs to a dozen countries.
https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/13735-australia-asian-el-chapo-arrested-cyber-fraud-and-darknet-busts
Fraudster ex-NAB employee Rosemary Rogers jailed after multimillion dollar kickback scheme – 27 January 2021
The long list of luxury gifts a now-jailed Rosemary Rogers (former NAB CEO) received through a 5 year, multimillion-dollar kickback scheme have been detailed in court. They included cash, private jets, a luxury BMW worth $172,000, two boats, a caravan, domestic and international holidays and 1.85 million for renovations. The court heard Rogers paid the invoices knowing they were false and exceeded legitimate expenses.
