Rosemary Rogers, a former chief of staff to ex-NAB CEO Andrew Thorburn, has been jailed for eight years for taking kickbacks to the value of $5.4 million in return for fraudulently approving false and inflated invoices from a supplier to the bank.
New South Wales police initiated a probe in April 2019 following allegations by a whistleblower of corrupt invoice payments of up to $40 million made to executive events firm Human Group, a long-term supplier to the bank, that were approved by Rogers.
In return Rogers received a substantial payback which was spent on a "dream home" in Williamstown, a brand new BMW, a boat, a caravan, home renovations and lavish family holidays in exotic overseas destinations.
In sentencing Rogers, NSW District Judge Paul Conlon said he found it "absolutely staggering that those frauds were not detected by some appropriate system of internal auditing."
In a statement following the trial, NAB chief legal counsel, Sharon Cook, says: “Since becoming aware of the issue, we have made changes to strengthen controls in our organisation, including changing delegations and introducing additional checks on expenses."
Helen Rosamond, the owner and director of Human Group, was arrested in May 2019 and charged with 50 counts of corruption over a four-year relationship with the bank. Rosamund has pleaded not guilty and will be brought before the court in July.