Sydney couple fleeced bank of more than $40m, police allege
A former National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank employee and her mortgage broker husband have been arrested and charged with assisting in fraud worth more than $40 million for a financial crime syndicate accused of siphoning hundreds of millions of dollars from Australia’s major banks.
Huy Tin Nguyen, 34, and his wife Thu Huong Nguyen, 35, are accused of helping the Penthouse Syndicate, allegedly one of the largest fraud and money laundering syndicates in Australian history, build a luxury real estate empire in Sydney and defraud the country’s financial giants with the help of a network of corrupt bankers, mortgage brokers, lawyers, real estate agents and property developers.
The pair were arrested by detectives from Strike Force Myddleton’s financial crimes squad at their home in Wentworth Point on Tuesday morning. Their arrests mark the latest milestone in the unraveling of the Penthouse Syndicate, which this imprint previously revealed was accused of defrauding NAB of more than $150 million using corrupt individuals on its payroll. Several NAB employees suspected of accepting bribes to knowingly approve fraudulent loans have been suspended and investigations are ongoing.
Huy Tin Nguyen, who hobbled from his home on crutches with his dachshund at his side, was charged with participating in a criminal group and 19 counts of dishonestly obtaining a financial benefit by deception in connection with $31 million worth of mortgage and commercial loan fraud. The 34-year-old man, who works as a business development manager for finance and brokerage companies, was refused bail to appear at Burwood Local Court on Wednesday.
His wife, Thu Huong Nguyen, was charged with participating in a criminal group, three counts of fraudulently obtaining a financial benefit by fraud, and attempting to fraudulently obtain a financial benefit by fraud in connection with fraud worth approximately $13 million. She was denied bail to appear in the same court as her husband on Wednesday.
Huy Tin Nguyen worked as a merchant banker at NAB from February 2017 to April 2021, according to his LinkedIn profile. Nguyen also worked at Commonwealth Bank. The accusations are not related to the time the 34-year-old worked at the bank.
Detectives allege Huy Tin Nguyen, working with the syndicate’s three ringleaders, Bing “Michael” Li, Anya Phan and Andrew W Hu, in a joint criminal enterprise, defrauded NAB of more than $75 million through 14 fraudulent home loan applications approved by the bank between April 2024 and July 2025, according to court documents obtained during this imprint’s months-long investigation into the syndicate. Li was arrested in dramatic fashion at the penthouse flat of Crown’s residential tower in Barangaroo last July. He is expected to be tried on more fraud charges.
In a group chat with the alleged ringleaders, Huy Tin Nguyen used the pseudonym “T nike,” according to court documents.
Police said the group, of which Huy Tin Nguyen was a key member, defrauded NAB of almost $15 million through 15 fake business loans between August 2024 and June 2025. NAB allegedly made unsuccessful attempts to work with the syndicate’s ringleaders to secure a business loan and mortgage worth $7.2 million. Li, Phan and Hu face charges related to multimillion-dollar fraud and money laundering. The trio has not yet entered a plea to the charges.
According to court documents, Huy Tin Nguyen and Hu, who was also a former NAB and Commonwealth Bank employee and mortgage broker until his arrest in December, used their knowledge of NAB’s internal processes and algorithms to exploit the bank’s vulnerabilities. The duo allegedly ran a network of mortgage brokers who submitted fraudulent loan applications for the syndicate, rotated regularly to avoid suspicion and detection.
Huy Tin Nguyen is also alleged to have worked with Ibnu Pratama, a business associate of Li and Hu who left Australia in December 2024 and is wanted for fraud worth millions of dollars, a network of corrupt mortgage brokers, bankers, property developers and lawyers.
Detectives allege Thu Huong Nguyen brokered fraudulent home loans worth millions of dollars through his brokerage company, HTN Finance Pty Ltd. The 35-year-old brokered a union mortgage to buy half of a Dover Heights duplex for almost $13 million in February last year. Timotius Donny Sungkar, a former NAB employee accused last year of helping the syndicate defraud the bank of millions of dollars, managed the loan. Phan lived in the house before purchasing the other half of the duplex through his company, Phan Holding Group Pty Ltd, for $13.75 million in June.
Strike Force Myddleton, one of the largest investigations carried out by the financial crimes team, is still ongoing. To date, detectives have charged 27 union members, including the Nguyens. The NSW Crime Commission has seized $95 million worth of assets linked to alleged syndicate members, including properties, cars, cash, jewellery, watches and luxury and designer goods
Detective Superintendent Gordon Arbinja, commander of the financial crimes squad, said investigators would continue to pursue professional enablers on the union’s payroll.
“These corrupt individuals are undermining the integrity of Australia’s lending system and without their involvement, fraud on this scale would simply not have been possible,” he said.
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