Police probe former NAB executive over $110m in corporate travel

Bank accounts of the former chief of staff to NAB boss Andrew Thorburn have been frozen by NSW crime commission.

Former chief of staff to NAB chief executives Rosemary Rogers.

The bank accounts of the former chief of staff to NAB boss Andrew Thorburn have been frozen by the NSW crime commission as police now investigate over $110 million worth in corporate travel provided to the bank as part of a bribery investigation.

The action by the NSW Crime Commission comes as the investigation into the kickback scandal at the heart of the NAB focuses on what can now be revealed as $113m worth of corporate travel organised by the corporate services company The Human Group.

Rosemary Rogers, the former chief of staff to three NAB chief executives including Andrew Thorburn, has been under investigation by NSW Financial Crime Squad over services provided by The Human Group over a ten-year period to the NAB.

Police are investigating whether kickbacks were paid by The Human Group to bank staff to secure inflated contracts with the NAB.

The trips — which cost the bank on average over $10m a year — included numerous first-class getaways attended by the bank’s leading executives, including Mr Thorburn.

One trip included a trip to Dubai where executives were flown first class from Australia then helicoptered into a desert oasis for a “corporate retreat.”

The NSW Crime Commission, which specialises in freezing proceeds of alleged crimes, issued notices to Ms Rogers at her Melbourne home on Tuesday as well as the offices of the NAB to freeze any assets in Ms Rogers’ accounts.

No charges have been laid against Ms Rogers, and Ms Rogers has not responded to requests for comment from YourMoney/The Australian.

Ms Rogers and the Human Group director Helen Rosamond have been at the centre of a bribery investigation since Ms Rogers quit the bank a year ago.

A NSW Police strike force set up to investigate the alleged fraud conducted raids in April and properties in Sydney and Melbourne, including the Human Group’s offices and Ms Rosamond’s Sydney address.

Several of Ms Rosamond’s Sydney properties are also now under investigation by the NSW Police and Crime Commission.

Following what is understood to have been a whistleblower complaint, Ms Rogers resigned as Mr Thorburn’s chief of staff last December, over what was described at the time by Mr Thorburn as a “lapse in judgment” in a note to staff.

Mr Thorburn is not being investigated and is not suspected by police of any wrongdoing.

In April he said he was personally hurt by the allegations against Ms Rogers describing it as a “personal breach of trust” with someone whom he had “a longstanding personal relationship.”

The Royal Commission into banking and financial services requested information from the NAB relating to Ms Rogers and the Human Group prior to Mr Thorburn’s appearance in front of the commission last week but he was not questioned on the subject.

In a statement to YourMoney/The Australian the NAB said “The alleged fraud was reported by a whistleblower. NAB responded and acted immediately on Andrew Thorburn’s direction, investigated matters and reported them to police.”

“If the alleged fraud is proven, it represents a most serious breach of trust by a former employee.

“We continue to cooperate fully with police, who have asked us to provide no further comment on the alleged fraud and the investigation.”

Leo Shanahan is chief reporter at YourMoney