Australian loses more than $337,000 by Bank of America fraudster
An Aussie couple almost lost their home and business after falling victim to a multimillion-dollar scam run by a fake banker.
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An Australian man who almost lost his home and business after falling victim to an elaborate multimillion-dollar scam by a fake banker has revealed how he got duped.
Wayne Johncock and his wife Nicky, who live in London, were among the victims of the $3.3 million scam run by former Bank of America employee Rajesh Ghedia.
Ghedia, who was a low-level employee working in technology operations at the bank, pretended to be its vice president and convinced seven people – including his cousin – to invest in non-existent financial products over the course of 15 months.
The fraudster, who had no authority to offer financial advice, convinced Mr Johncock that he would negotiate funds for his education company, and the Australian handed over more than $337,000. But Ghedia pocketed the money for himself.
“Every day I thought I was dealing with the Bank of America … never ever thought I’d be involved in something like this,” Mr Johncock told 7 News.
“The emails would come in, I had meetings in there, and my name was behind the front desk.”
Another victim reportedly sold their family home because they were told they owed Bank of America more than $135,000 in taxes related to a fake investment portfolio.
A third victim reportedly helped uncover the scam after they contacted Bank of America and found out the A$250,000 they invested had been put into Ghedia’s personal account.
“When the investor asked to withdraw the funds or questioned the lack of return, Ghedia would offer a number of excuses, including delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the UK leaving the European Union, “ a spokesperson for London Police said, 7 News reports.
“He even at one point alleged that Russian hackers had intercepted the funds, and advised the client to report it to Action Fraud.”
Ghedia also allegedly faked having stage four pancreatic cancer to receive $2.2 million in pension payments from insurance companies that allowed him to make claims is he had 12 months to live.
Detectives began investigating those claims when his mortgage provider Spring Finance became suspicious after numerous failed repayments.
Spring Finance compliance manager Erika Leung told 7 News it was clear Ghedia’s story “did not add up” as soon as it crossed her desk.
“The timeline of his diagnosis coupled with the lack of contact, payments and suspicious medical documents immediately raised alarm bells, leading us to report the case to Action Fraud,” she said.
Fraud investigators called the medical clinics Ghedia was reported to attend and found the doctors listed were not consultants for them.
The main doctor listed by Ghedia told police he had “never treated anyone with the name Rajesh Ghedia, nor had anyone with this name been a patient” at his clinic.
The doctor also proved to police that the email addresses and signatures used on the medical records were fake.
Police executed a warrant to search Ghedia’s London home and found the fraudster was living in a mansion in one of the city’s most expensive areas snd had sent his children to private school. He declined to answer the police officer’s questions.
In June 2022, Ghedia pleaded guilty to more than 30 counts of fraud and was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison.
But Mr Johncock has slammed Bank of America’s “atrocious” response to the fraud and blames them for not realising what was happening under their noses soon.
The Australian couple now seeks compensation and hopes other financial institutions will increase their security.
The Bank of America declined to comment.
Originally published as Australian loses more than $337,000 by Bank of America fraudster
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