Maurice Blackburn to sue Commonwealth Bank, NAB, Westpac and Citibank

LAW firm Maurice Blackburn will file class actions against the other big banks for charging exorbitant customer fees after the partial success in a court case against ANZ.

Andrew Watson, Maurice Blackburn's head of class actions

Maurice Blackburn will bring the actions against Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac, National Australia Bank and Citibank, head of class actions Andrew Watson said in a media conference today.

The Federal Court, in a ruling earlier this month, found that late fees charged on credit cards could be characterised as a penalty and may be legally unenforceable.

Maurice Blackburn said the proceeding against the other four banks would be issued in the Federal Court in Melbourne on behalf of 150,000 customers, for claims worth almost $200 million.

“These class actions are about bringing fairness to tens of thousands of Australians, from mums and dads to small business owners who have all been hit with exorbitant fees from the major banks,” Mr Watson said.

The cases would allege that fees imposed upon customers for overdrawn accounts, late payments, honour and dishonour charges do not reflect the actual cost to the bank, Mr Watson said.

The law firm’s managing director of financial redress James Middleweek said Citibank was continuing to charge a monthly $40 overlimit fee and a weekly $10 late fee.

The actions were being funded by litigation funder IMF (Australia) Ltd on a no win no fee basis, Maurice Blackburn said.

Sourced from: http://www.news.com.au/business/maurice-blackburn-to-sue-commonwealth-bank-nab-westpac-and-citibank/story-e6frfm1i-1226223852062#ixzz1gfSYBXMw. Photo courtesy of the Courier Mail.

Accountant in $45m Banking Fraud

Rajina Subramaniam defrauded her employer of $45 million.

Castle Hill Accountant in $45m Fraud

THE diamonds and sapphires were stored under her desk and never worn, the four multimillion-dollar beachside apartments left unattended.

And when detectives finally came to arrest the Sydney mother Rijina Rita Subramaniam for defrauding her employer of $45 million, not one of the luxury items she had bought with the money was among her personal possessions.

In one of the largest cases of fraud by a woman in NSW history, Subramaniam repeatedly siphoned off tens of thousands of dollars from ING Australia, where she was an accountant for more than a decade.

The 41-year-old from Castle Hill spent the money on seven prestige properties – including four units on Bondi Beach’s exclusive Campbell Parade – 600 pieces of designer jewellery, and 200 perfume and make-up items. But then she never touched them.

Yesterday the Downing Centre District Court was told that Subramaniam was motivated, not by greed, but by a desire for revenge over the allegedly abusive sexual relationship she was having with a workmate, and an overwhelming need for positive affirmation.

Subramaniam’s sentencing hearing heard that she had extremely poor self-esteem, due in part to the sexual abuse she allegedly experienced as a child at the hands of her grandfather and two uncles.

After getting involved with a colleague at ING, she came to perceive the relationship as abusive but continued to see the man for years. This alleged abuse and the feeling that her supervisors were bullying her led to a desire for revenge and to ”get back at the system and others within the system”.

According to Dr Stephen Allnutt, who was called as a witness for the defence, the flip-side of these feelings was a powerful desire for recognition and empowerment, desires that were fulfilled by spending money.

Judge Michael Finnane said that Subramaniam appeared to gain satisfaction from ”being applauded by [shop] assistants [who said] ‘how wonderful you’ve come back to us again, a wealthy woman like you and a woman of such discrimination and taste … we’ll only show you the very good stuff because you’re someone very special”’.

So grateful was she for the warmth and attention, Subramaniam gave one shop assistant $1.3 million to buy a house.

Subramaniam’s lawyer, Tim Game, SC, said Subramaniam should not be jailed because she would not be able to get the psychological care she needed.

Judge Finnane will hand down his sentence in February.

Sourced from: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/womans-quest-for-selfesteem-and-revenge-cost-boss-45m-20111215-1owya.html#ixzz1gfN8sApi, Paul Bibby Courts, 16/12/2011. Image courtesy of stuff.co.nz

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