29 January, 2021

Former NAB employee cops jail time over kickback scheme with events company

A closeup of the locking mechanism of a closed jail cell with welded iron bars on a dimly lit dark background - 3D render

A former National Australia Bank employee has been jailed for eight years after teaming up with the head of an events management company to allegedly scam millions of dollars from her employer.

Rosemary Rogers, who was the chief of staff to two NAB chief executives during her tenure, approved inflated invoices from Human Group over a four-year period, according to ABC News.

The events company allegedly gave Rogers more than $5.5 million, including luxury international holidays, home renovations, pre-paid credit cards, and a luxury car to “ensure that Human Group maintained a contract with NAB”.

Human Group also spent $620,000 to fly Rogers and her family to the US on a private jet where they chartered a yacht, while another $159,000 was spent to fly her to Europe.

These international jaunts were labelled under codes like “Project Europe” and “Project Outlaw”, which were paid for by the events company and linked to payments received by the bank.

Roger’s alleged co-conspirator, Helen Rosamond (the ex-director of Human Group), is still awaiting trial, but the court heard the two referred to each other as “bestie” and “sister from another mother”, despite Rogers claiming their relationship was purely professional.

“I find it absolutely staggering that this fraud were not detected by some appropriate system of internal auditing by NAB,” Judge Paul Conlon said.

“All that was required was for Human Group to submit invoices that were devoid of detail and the offender would merely approve them courtesy of her delegated authority.”

The pair were found out when NAB received an anonymous letter in 2017 claiming “Rose” had been receiving money and gifts over the years from Rosamond.

“Since becoming aware of the issue, we have made changes to strengthen controls in our organisation, including changing delegations and introducing additional checks on expenses,” NAB chief legal counsel Sharon Cook told ABC News.

“As there is a second party involved who is still before the court, NAB is unable to comment further on this matter.

“We are taking court action to recover the proceeds of the alleged fraud.”

Featured image source: iStock/allanswart

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bank bribe events management fraud Helen Rosamond Human Group luxury car luxury international holidays NAB National Australia Bank pre-paid credit cards private jet Rosemary Rogers scam Sharon Cook