A former NAB employee who lost his savings to a cryptocurrency scam decided to follow in his scammers’ footsteps by stealing nearly $500,000 from his customers.
Dennis Nguyen has been jailed for at least 18 months after he pleaded guilty to three charges of theft and four of fraud in Victoria’s County Court.
The court hard he carried out the scheme almost immediately after he learned that he had been fleeced of about $20,000 of his savings on November 14, 2021, as reported by The Daily Telegraph.
Nguyen’s brazen theft involved making huge transfers from accounts at NAB, where he worked, to fake accounts he had made at Commonwealth Bank using the same customer’s details.
But the scheme rapidly unravelled after just two transactions.
Nguyen targeted customers that had made extra payments on their home-loans and made a $70,000 redraw on one and a $50,000 re-draw on the other.
Both customers disputed the transactions and were reimbursed by NAB while the bank investigated.
Nguyen was eventually sacked by NAB on November 26 and the matter was referred to police.
A former NAB employee who lost his savings to a cryptocurrency scam decided to follow in his scammers’ footsteps by stealing nearly $500,000 from his customers (stock)
Almost a year later in October 2022, Nguyen got a job at Judo Bank where he then stole about $167,500 from a customer who he spoke to on the phone twice and learned she had multiple sclerosis and had trouble remembering details.
He cleaned out her term deposit account in a few transactions, didn’t even bother with a fake profile and then transferred the cash to his own ANZ account.
When Judo Bank questioned him, he claimed he was too ‘intelligent’ to use his own details and accused scammers of stealing his identity.
Nguyen was sacked and the matter was again referred to police.
Despite being fired twice, Nguyen carried out another scam shortly after in which he wrote reviews on financial comparison websites claiming to be a senior manager from Judo called Patrick.
He told potential customers if they emailed him directly he could arrange a better interest rate than the standard one Judo offered.
His con hooked one person, who transferred $200,000 to an account Nguyen had made. He almost tricked another who was looking to invest half a million dollars, but they grew suspicious when he used his actual name in one email.
Nguyen stole an estimated $489,000 over the three schemes.
Dennis Nguyen set up fake CBA accounts and then used his inside access of NAB’s system as an employee to transfer customers’ money to that account (stock)
Judge Samantha Marks said he did display some remorse and his behaviour was ‘informed’ by factors such as his father being a gambling addict.
However, she said the offence was serious and a significant sentence was required as a general deterrent.
He will be eligible for parole in September next year.
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