Former chief of staff to ex-NAB boss granted bail over alleged $40m fraud surrounding the bank
The former chief of staff to ex-NAB boss Andrew Thorburn has been granted bail in a Sydney court where she appeared on 56 charges relating to an alleged multimillion-dollar fraud with police telling a magistrate Rosemary Rogers funded a “luxurious life”.
NSW
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The former chief of staff to ex-NAB boss Andrew Thorburn has been granted strict bail after facing court over an alleged $40 million fraud against the bank.
Rosemary Rogers, 43, faced Sydney’s Central Local Court on Tuesday on 56 charges of corruptly receiving a benefit during the latter years of her two decades as a NAB employee.
Police told the court the Melbourne woman was motivated by greed as she funded a “very luxurious life” with benefits valued at $5.4 million.
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Magistrate Robert Williams said the case against Rogers was strong and she would likely be jailed if found guilty of all the charges.
But he said Rogers had no criminal record and there was little evidence she’d try to flee.
“She appears to have co-operated in the process since November 2017 including presenting to police today,” Mr Williams said.
As part of her bail conditions, Rogers must obey a nightly curfew at her Melbourne home, report daily to local police and not use encrypted messaging services such as WhatsApp.
She’s also banned from approaching international ports of departure except to fly to Sydney for court appearances and is not allowed to speak to her co-accused Helen Rosamond.
Rogers left the bank in December 2017 after being confronted with evidence she allegedly signed off on inflated payments to a contractor.
She had worked closely with Mr Thorburn and knew his family. There is no suggestion that Mr Thorburn was aware of the alleged fraud.
Her co-accused — Human Group director Helen Rosamond — was charged last week with 56 bribery offences and two other offences.
Rosamond allegedly forked out more than $6.6 million in bribes to maintain a relationship between her training company and NAB.
Detectives from the State Crime Command’s Financial Crimes Squad established Strike Force Napthali last month to probe allegations of corrupt commissions being paid for contracts with a financial institution valued at more than $40 million and carried out over five years.
The relationship between Rosamond and Rogers is at the centre of the investigation.
Investigators are probing allegations Ms Rogers swindled $500,000 from the bank to fund a luxury resort holiday for herself and others, among other claims.
The alleged conduct is said to have been carried out between 2013 and 2017, while the relationship between Human Group and NAB dates back 12 years with contracts worth $118 million.
A NAB spokesperson on Friday said the alleged fraud was first reported by a whistleblower.
“NAB responded immediately, investigated and reported it to police,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“If the alleged fraud is proven, it represents a most serious breach of trust by a former employee.” The bank stressed that “NAB is the victim in this matter”.
“Police have confirmed that no one at NAB is under investigation, including former CEO Andrew Thorburn, and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by anyone at NAB.”