Keysar Trad’s Neice, Suspect in $150m loan scam fronts court.

 

Suspect in $150m loan scam fronts court

SMH
DYLAN WELCH
January 13, 2010

SHE used to drive a Honda with number plates that read ''CL55SY'' and Hiba Cornell, one of 14 people accused of involvement in a $150 million mortgage fraud syndicate linked to the September murder of the Sydney loan shark Michael McGurk, cut a demure figure in court yesterday.

After the brief appearance to vary her bail conditions, Mrs Cornell left Newtown Local Court holding the hand of her husband, Ashfield detective Andrew Cornell. She did not speak during the hearing.

Mrs Cornell, a 43-year-old mother of two and the niece of the Sydney Lebanese identity Keysar Trad, is charged with 10 fraud and conspiracy offences relating to the fraudulent activities in assisting members of the syndicate to apply for loans.

She is charged with helping members of the syndicate fraudulently apply for loans from the St George and Commonwealth banks worth almost $5 million between 2006 and 2008.

In a letter to police tendered in court, Mrs Cornell's lawyer, Brett Hearnden, asked that his client's bail conditions be amended so she did not have to report to a police station once a week.

The alleged scam, which investigators say involved up to 250 people and more than $150 million, allegedly involved inflating the value of properties and then taking out mortgages based on the inflated amounts.

The head of the fraud squad, Detective Superintendent Col Dyson, has said there were direct links between the fraud syndicate and the investigation into the murder of the lender of last resort Michael McGurk.

The names of the 13 other people charged so far were included in a document tendered yesterday. They are: Fatima and Ali Moussa; Ahmad Hamze; Adam Perez; Trent Knox; Rachid Kabhara; Taam Chamna; Hammoude Badr; Mohamad Mehajer; Mohamad Sowaid; Mohamad Diab; Abdul Sayadi and Todd Blunt.

There is a common thread here, can anyone else sense it or is it just me ? call me crazy but there is something here that… well I just cant put my finger on it… come on help me out here.

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