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ABC News
ABC News
National
By Alison Xiao

Two charged over alleged attempt to defraud NAB of more than $21 million

Srinivas Chamakuri was charged with 11 offences after being arrested last month.

A former National Australia Bank employee and a Sydney man have been charged over an alleged attempt to defraud the bank of more than $21 million.

Detectives began investigating in February after it was revealed fraudulent bank deposit guarantees had been used to buy properties across NSW for an inflated commission.

Fairfield man Srinivas Chamakuri, 47, who was not a bank employee, was arrested last month and charged with 11 offences in connection with an alleged fraud of more than $16 million.

His case was briefly mentioned on Wednesday in Fairfield Local Court.

He was given bail under strict conditions that he report to police four times a week.

Police allege Mr Chamakuri provided internal NAB vouchers to a person who deposited the vouchers at three branches in Western Sydney between June and September 2019.

The vouchers ranged in value from $4 million to $5 million.

Five of his charges are identity crime offences against the person to whom the vouchers were provided, including accessing their driver's licence, passport, tax file number, bank account information and payslips.

Monika Singh, 38, a former NAB employee, was arrested earlier this month and charged with nine offences over the attempted $21.6 million fraud.

She will face court in November.

The alleged criminal syndicate is accused of preying on international students by promising to help them obtain loans, before using their names to create new accounts for money laundering.

"Not only has this group attempted to steal money from hard-working Australians through fraudulent deposits, one of these individuals also preyed on international students by promising to help them obtain financial loans to fund their tuition," said Detective Superintendent Linda Howlett from the Financial Crimes Squad.

"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," NAB's Chris Sheehan said.

Court documents reveal a third person is also alleged to be part of the attempted fraud.

Police say further arrests are expected.

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