Former Commonwealth Bank IT executive Keith Hunter charged with securities fraud in US

The DOJ has charged Keith Hunter with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, as he awaits sentencing in Australia.

Keith Hunter, left, after appearing in court last year.

Former Commonwealth Bank IT executive Keith Hunter is facing charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud in the US after he recently pleaded guilty to similar charges in Australia.

Bloomberg reports that the US Department of Justice formally charged Mr Hunter overnight on the grounds he was complicit in a scheme that saw fraudulent multi-million dollar contracts exchanged between CBA and US software firm ServiceMesh ahead of the latter’s purchase by Computer Sciences Corp.

The actions are believed to have pushed Computer Sciences to overpay for ServiceMesh by around $US98 million ($127.8m).

It comes as Mr Hunter awaits sentencing on bribery charges in Australia relating to the same case.

In June, he decided to plead guilty in Sydney’s Downing Centre magistrates court on claims he received $2.9 million in bribes relating to the ServiceMesh contracts.

Mr Hunter had looked to dispute the claims initially, but the American national shifted to a guilty plea in the hopes of receiving a reduced sentence when the court rules on December 5.

Authorities are expecting Mr Hunter to face the US charges after any sentence is served in Australia.

His former CBA colleague Jon Waldron is also facing charges in Australia, although most recently he was believed to be fighting the allegations.

Earlier this year, The Australian revealed CBA had received a warning on the ServiceMesh deal a year before police were alerted to the issue.