Mortgage fraudster sentenced to prison

An Auckland property developer at the centre of a $52 million mortgage fraud case was sentenced to four years and seven months in prison in Auckland’s High Court yesterday morning.

Kang Huang, also known as ‘‘Gang Wang’’, pleaded guilty to 10 charges brought against him by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in December, for providing false documents or information to either ANZ and Bank of New Zealand across multiple home loan applications, and bribing one bank employee.

The fraudulent activity involved 75 properties in Hamilton and Auckland.

The charges were for obtaining by deception, corruptly giving consideration to an agent, and dishonest use of a document.

Four of Huang’s associates involved in the fraud – Huang’s wife, Kang Xu, lawyer Gang Chen and former bank employee Zongliang Jiang – are due to appear for trial in the High Court in Auckland on February 26.

The SFO laid more than 100 charges against the group in October 2016.

Name suppression on Huang and his associates was lifted in July last year.

SFO director Julie Read said a serious misconduct case like this undermined lenders’ confidence in the mortgage market.

‘‘If banks have to introduce additional checks, these costs may be passed on to borrowers increasing the cost of mortgages for all.

‘‘The SFO is committed to investigating and prosecuting this kind of offending to maintain the integrity of the mortgage market and preserve New Zealand’s reputation for having corruption free business practices.’’