Australian banker steals 489K after falling into a crypto fraud

An Australian banker named Dennis Nguyen has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing AUD 489,000 from a client. Nguyen spurred almost every life saving into a crypto scam several years ago and resorted to villains.

In late 2021, Nguyen was an employee of National Australia Bank (NAB), and at the time he lost 20,000 to crypto fraud. The incident turned him into a villain and followed in the footsteps of his con artists. The former banker used his knowledge of the banking system and began scaming customers.

The former banker scams his client

Nguyen has carried out a sophisticated scam. He began stealing customer data from the NAB and used this data to create fake accounts at Commonwealth Bank. Once fake accounts were set up, Nguyen began to transfer large amounts of funds from NAB to Commonwealth Bank.

Nguyen carefully selected the victims. He targeted clients who deposited additional payments on their home loans. He was able to complete two transactions, AUD 70,000 and 50,000 AUD. However, customers were attracting attention and NAB refunded it after investigating the incident.

Nab fired Nguyen on November 26, 2021 and reported the fraud to the police. After a year passed, Nguyen found another job at Judo Bank and began working on his plans. He stole 167,500 from his clients in just a few transactions.

Before carrying out the scam, Nguyen spoke twice to a customer over the phone and found out he was struggling to remember the event due to his multiple sclerosis illness.

He used this information to empty his term deposit without creating a fake profile and then poured his money straight into his ANZ bank account.

Judo Bank investigated the case and asked Nguyen about it, but he denied everything and claimed that the client had stole details of his identity. Nguyen was fired for the second time, and Judo Bank reported the incident to the police.

After losing two jobs, Nguyen did not give up. He began posing as a judo bank manager named Patrick. He used his fake identity to write a review on a savings account comparison website. He then attracted the victims and told them that if they emailed her directly, they would offer better interest rates than what Judo Bank is offering.

One person fell into a scam and transferred 200k to Nguyen’s bank account. However, Judo Bank has refunded the amount. The couple nearly fell into a scam and were about to send a 500k AUD, but they stopped after Nguyen used his name Dennis in one of the emails instead of Patrick.

Police arrested Nguyen after he scamned the victim and caused a complete loss of 489,000 AUD.

The crime was serious, but Judge Samantha Marks noted that his father’s alcoholism, physical abuse and gambling addiction were affected by his personal circumstances.

Nguyen expressed regret, but the judge said the crime was serious and demanded a long sentence. He pleads guilty to four counts of fraud and theft and is jailed for 18 months. Nguyen will be eligible for parole next September.