Former St George Bank employee charged with fraud offences

A former St George bank employee has been arrested at a beauty salon and charged with allegedly embezzling nearly $600,0000 from customers. See the arrest pictures.

A former St George bank employee has been arrested at a Sydney beauty salon and charged with allegedly embezzling nearly $600,0000 from customers.

Sarah Daizli, 28 — who also uses the name Sarah Diaz Sukkar and has a business called Dr Finance — is set to appear in Central Local Court today after police took her into custody last Wednesday while she was at the salon on Pitt St in the city.

Detectives for the Financial Crimes Squad began investigating an alleged criminal syndicate last May after being told they were involved in defrauding the bank.

Sarah Diazli is facing fraud charges.

Sarah Diazli.

Police allege unauthorised bank transactions valued at nearly $600,000 had been made from various accounts between February 2015 and October 2018.

They also arrested a 26-year-old woman and 28-year old man last week.

The pair was charged over their alleged roles in fraudulent bank transactions valued at nearly $350,000.

The same day they arrested Ms Daizli, from Prestons, where she was taken to Day St police station and charged with 15 counts relating to the frauds.

Police also executed a search warrant at a business at Liverpool where computers and documents including identification in various names and loan applications were seized.

She was refused bail and is due to appear in court today.

Sarah Diazli during her arrest. Picture: Police Media

Sarah Diazli speaks with detectives. Picture: Police Media.

Detective Superintendent Linda Howlett said: “It will be alleged in court that this woman used her employment to facilitate unauthorised fraudulent bank transactions valued at nearly $600,000 over a two-year period.”

“This includes nearly $350,000 allegedly siphoned from an elderly individuals’ retirement and personal accounts – essentially stealing all of their savings.

“Criminal offences of this nature are not only financially debilitating, but also emotionally distressing for victims, and anyone involved in stealing the hard-earned wages and savings of others is disgraceful.

“The methods used to obtain the funds involved a high degree of planning. They were complex, of a large monetary value and designed in a way to concealed and abuse the trust of her employer and customers.

“Investigations of this nature are extremely complex and involve working in close collaboration with financial institutions to uncover the full extent of the alleged crimes committed.

“Anyone who believes their identity has been compromised online is urged to contact their financial institution and police,” Det Supt Howlett said.

BROKER CHARGED OVER ALLEGED ATTEMPTED NAB FRAUD

A finance broker who allegedly tried to defraud more than $20 million from an Australian bank will face court today.

The 64-year-old man is the third person charged following an investigation by State Crime Command’s Financial Crimes squad into the alleged attempted fraud of NAB by a criminal syndicate.

He had been working as a finance broker and police will allege in court he attempted to defraud the financial institution of more than $21.6 million.

The man will face court today. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

Already, a 38-year-old woman and a 47-year-old man have been charged and are before the courts.

Police believe they have evidence which shows the group used fraudulent bank deposits to purchase properties in NSW for an inflated commission.

The 64-year-old man was arrested about 8.30am at Blacktown police Station on Tuesday and is expected to appear at Blacktown Local Court today.

He was charged with conspiring with others to cheat and defraud, dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception, deal with identity information to commit indictable offence and participate in a criminal group contributing to criminal activity.

Bank worked with police to investigate the anomalies. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

At the time of the arrests of the 38-year-old woman and 47-year-old man, in August, bank executives warned they would be working with police to investigate anomalies.

NAB‘s Executive Group Investigations and Fraud, Chris Sheehan, said the organisation referred the matter to the authorities as soon as their systems detected “unusual activity.”

“NAB has zero tolerance for any criminal activity and any employee who knowingly engages in such conduct will be dismissed. Where we identify apparent criminal conduct, we immediately refer matters to the police,” Mr Sheehan said.

“It is important to note no NAB customers were impacted and no financial loss occurred as a result of the actions alleged by police, and the former employee was dismissed by NAB. ”