Serious Fraud Office seeks help in pursuit of alleged 'criminal syndicate' that fraudulently obtained mortgages worth almost $5 million

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is asking for help from the public to identify three people.

The three may be able to help with enquiries into a criminal syndicate the SFO alleges worked together to fraudulently obtain nearly $5 million in mortgages.

This comes after the SFO last week filed charges against two women alleging they used fake identity documents to obtain nearly $5 million in lending against properties they didn't own. The two have interim name suppression. They were arrested following a search warrant in the Auckland suburb of Epsom, and appeared in Auckland District Court last Wednesday facing four joint charges of obtaining by deception.

"The SFO alleges a criminal syndicate worked together to fraudulently obtain nearly $5 million in mortgages. It is alleged they have stolen the identities of at least three people to dishonestly obtain mortgages against those people’s properties without their knowledge," the SFO says.

"The criminal syndicate is alleged to have gone to some lengths to facilitate the offending, including forging residential tenancy records, immigration records, a New Zealand driver licence and used foreign passports. They are alleged to have used fictitious addresses, a PO Box, phone numbers and email addresses, and set up bank accounts in the names of the victims to receive funds."

"The SFO is seeking the public’s assistance to identify three other individuals who may be able to help with its enquiries into this matter. It is believed these individuals frequent Albany and St Lukes in Auckland," the SFO says.

The images of two men and one woman, featured above, are the three people the SFO is striving to identify. These are separate to the two people charged.

"Anyone recognising those captured in the images, or who has information that could help identify them, should contact the SFO on sfo@sfo.govt.nz," the SFO says.

Meanwhile, the two women who have been charged are next scheduled to appear in the Auckland District Court on Wednesday 26 August.