Sydney couple fleeced bank of more than $40m, police allege

A former National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank employee and his mortgage broker wife have been arrested and charged with facilitating more than $40 million worth of fraud for a financial crime syndicate accused of fleecing Australia’s major banks of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Huy Tin Nguyen, 34, and his wife, Thu Huong Nguyen, 35, are accused of helping the Penthouse Syndicate – alleged to be one of the biggest fraud and money laundering syndicates in Australian history – build a luxury property empire across Sydney and defraud the country’s finance giants with the help of a network of corrupt bankers, mortgage brokers, solicitors, real estate agents and property developers.

The pair was arrested at their Wentworth Point home on Tuesday morning by financial crimes squad detectives working under Strike Force Myddleton. Their arrests mark the latest milestone in the unravelling of the Penthouse Syndicate, which this masthead previously revealed was accused of defrauding NAB of more than $150 million using corrupted insiders on its payroll. Several NAB employees suspected of receiving bribes to knowingly approve fraudulent loans have been sacked and remain under investigation.

Huy Tin Nguyen, who hobbled from his apartment on crutches flanked by his dachshund, was charged with participating in a criminal group and 19 counts of dishonestly obtaining financial benefit by deception relating to $31 million worth of mortgage and business loan fraud. The 34-year-old, who has worked as a business development manager in finance and brokerage companies, was refused bail to appear in Burwood Local Court on Wednesday.

His wife, Thu Huong Nguyen, was charged with participating in a criminal group, three counts of dishonestly obtaining financial benefit by deception, and attempting to dishonestly obtain financial benefit by deception related to almost $13 million worth of fraud. She was refused bail to appear in the same court as her husband on Wednesday.

Huy Tin Nguyen worked as a business banker at NAB from February 2017 to April 2021, according to his LinkedIn profile. Nguyen also worked for Commonwealth Bank. The charges do not relate to the 34-year-old’s time working at the banks.

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 masthead’s months-long investigation into the syndicate. Li was dramatically arrested in the penthouse apartment of the Crown’s residential tower at Barangaroo last July. He is expected to be charged with further fraud offences.

In a group chat with the alleged ringleaders, Huy Tin Nguyen used the handle “T nike”, according to court documents.

Police say the group, of which Huy Tin Nguyen was a key member, defrauded NAB of almost $15 million through 15 fraudulent business loans between August 2024 and June 2025. He is alleged to have been involved with the syndicate’s ringleaders in failed attempts to secure a NAB business loan and mortgage worth $7.2 million. Li, Phan and Hu are all facing charges related to millions of dollars worth of fraud and money laundering. The trio is yet to enter pleas to the charges.

Huy Tin Nguyen and Hu, also a former NAB and Commonwealth Bank employee and a mortgage broker until his arrest in December, used their knowledge of NAB’s internal processes and algorithms to exploit the bank’s vulnerabilities, according to court documents. The pair is alleged to have managed a network of mortgage brokers – rotated regularly to avoid suspicion and detection – who submitted fraudulent loan applications for the syndicate.

Huy Tin Nguyen is also alleged to have worked alongside Ibnu Pratama, an associate of Li and Hu who left Australia in December 2024 and remains wanted over millions of dollars worth of fraud, and a network of corrupt mortgage brokers, bankers, property developers and solicitors.

Detectives allege Thu Huong Nguyen, through her brokerage company HTN Finance Pty Ltd, facilitated fraudulent home loans worth millions of dollars. The 35-year-old acted as the broker on a mortgage taken out by the syndicate to purchase one half of a Dover Heights duplex for almost $13 million in February last year. Timotius Donny Sungkar, a former NAB employee charged last year with helping the syndicate defraud the bank of millions of dollars, managed the loan. Phan lived in the home before purchasing the other half of the duplex through her company, Phan Holding Group Pty Ltd, for $13.75 million in June.

Strike Force Myddleton, one of the biggest investigations carried out by the financial crimes squad, remains ongoing. Detectives have charged 27 alleged syndicate members to date, including the Nguyens. 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

Detective Superintendent Gordon Arbinja, commander of the financial crimes squad, said investigators would continue to pursue professional facilitators on the syndicate’s payroll.

“These corrupt insiders undermine the integrity of Australia’s lending system, and without their involvement, fraud on this scale simply wouldn’t be possible,” he said.

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