Pitt Street lawyer accused of $25 million fraud

Financial crimes squad detectives have charged a senior partner of a Sydney CBD law firm with facilitating more than $25 million worth of fraud for a criminal syndicate accused of fleecing Australia’s major banks of hundreds of millions of dollars.

The arrest of Elic Tang, 32, at his western Sydney home on Tuesday morning marks a significant milestone in Strike Force Myddleton’s investigation into the Penthouse Syndicate’s alleged infiltration of the banking, finance, property and legal sectors.

Tang, a partner at law firm Rosemont Partners, is accused of helping the group – alleged to be one of the biggest fraud and money laundering syndicates in Australian history – purchase more than $25 million worth of Sydney property.

Tang works in several areas of law and prides himself on being a “jack of all trades”, according to his firm’s website. Rosemont Partners describes itself online as a “multidisciplinary boutique law firm”.

Tang is the sole director of Rosemont Partners Pty Ltd, according to records held by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

Detectives say he laundered millions of dollars – alleged to be the proceeds of crime – for the syndicate, whose ringleader Bing “Michael” Li was last year arrested in the penthouse apartment of the Crown’s residential tower at Barangaroo.

Tang has been charged with participating in a criminal group, six counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and five counts of knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.

A months-long Herald investigation previously revealed allegations that the Penthouse Syndicate had defrauded the National Australia Bank of more than $150 million with the help of a network of corrupt bankers, mortgage brokers, solicitors and real estate agents. Tang is the first solicitor charged under Strike Force Myddleton.

The revelations mounted pressure on the banking industry and raised questions about its reform in the years since a scathing royal commission into the conduct of the country’s finance giants.

Police allege the syndicate has defrauded the major banks and other financiers of more than $250 million and used ill-gotten gains to purchase tens of millions of dollars worth of property.

Former NAB banker Timotius Donny Sungkar was charged in November with facilitating almost $10 million of business loan fraud for the Penthouse Syndicate.

A month later, mortgage broker and former NAB and Commonwealth Bank employee Andrew W Hu was charged with helping the syndicate secure almost $100 million worth of fraudulent mortgage and business loans.

Sungkar was granted bail in the Supreme Court last month after his mother offered the Bonnyrigg home where he was arrested as security.

The NSW Crime Commission has restrained $95 million worth of assets linked to alleged syndicate members, including properties, cars, cash, jewellery, watches, and luxury and designer goods. Hu and Sungkar’s matters remain before the courts.

Strike Force Myddleton, one of the biggest investigations carried out by the financial crimes squad, remains ongoing. Detectives have charged 25 alleged syndicate members to date.

The Law Society of NSW declined to comment on the charges against Tang. The society, the peak regulatory body for lawyers in NSW, can take over the management of a firm if its principal’s practising certificate has been suspended.

“This arrest is the first professional facilitator in a legal capacity charged under this strike force, and it sends a clear message that no role or qualification places anyone above the law,” Detective Superintendent Gordon Arbinja, commander of the financial crimes squad, said.

“Our investigators will continue to target individuals who abuse their professional standing to support criminal networks, and the community can expect further arrests of this nature as inquiries progress.”

Tang did not apply for bail when his matter was briefly mentioned at Bankstown Local Court on Wednesday morning. His solicitor, Shirin Razi, declined to comment on the charges against Tang. The 32-year-old was remanded in custody until Thursday, when he is expected to make a release application.

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