Accountants stung in forgery case

Former finance business manager Christopher Con Foo has been banned from engaging in credit activities and providing financial services by ASIC for a period of seven years.

Mr Con Foo was found to have engaged in misleading conduct when arranging car finance and insurance for customers buying vehicles from South Yarra BMW, a car dealership operated by Bayford Group Pty Ltd.

ASIC found that in October 2015, Mr Con Foo forged three letters in accountants' names and provided those letters to BMW Australia Finance Ltd in support of car finance applications for three of his customers.

In two of the cases the customers were not clients of the accountants concerned and the letters were prepared without the knowledge of those accountants.

In the third case a genuine accountant's letter was altered to falsify the customer's business income without the knowledge of the accountant or customer.

“Dishonest conduct exposes consumers and credit providers to financial risk,” ASIC deputy chair Peter Kell said.

“ASIC will not hesitate to take banning action to remove those engaging in misleading conduct from the industry.”