Sacked worker ordered to pay ANZ $1.2m

The man at the centre of an alleged multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud has been ordered to pay his former employer, ANZ Bank, more than $1.2m in damages.

Zamir Hussain, 31, was a mobile mortgage manager with ANZ when he allegedly authorised more than a dozen over-inflated mortgages between May and July 2007  costing the bank more than $3.5m.

The irregularities only came to light when borrowers failed to meet their mortgage payments. In one example, $790,000 was lent to buy a property with a government valuation of $415,000. After a mortgagee sale the bank lost $423,000. In another case a customer was loaned $995,200 to buy a Paremoremo property which generated only $670,000 at mortgagee sale.

The bank sacked Hussain and took him to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA), which earlier this year ruled he had breached his duty of care in 18 mortgage transactions in mid-2007 and fined him $54,000.

Now, in a separate decision the ERA has ordered Hussain  who has since fled New Zealand and is believed to be living in the United Kingdom, to pay the bank more than $1.2m in special damages for losses caused by his conduct.

''Mr Hussain's training and experience was such that he must have known of the real prospect of significant losses being caused by his careless or reckless actions,'' ERA member Robin Arthur said in his ruling.

ANZ maintains it lost more than $3.5m as a result of Hussain's actions but it capped its damages claim at $1.28m because that was the value of the excess for which it will be liable under its insurance policy should a criminal conviction for fraud is secured.

The bank told the ERA that it had no hope of mitigating its losses by seeking further contributions from the defaulting borrowers as each had been adjudged bankrupt last year.

ANZ would not tell the Sunday Star-Times what steps it was taking to recover the money from Hussain or whether it was pursuing any further legal action against him.

''ANZ only received the Employment Relations Authority ruling last week and we are yet to consider our options,'' a spokesperson for the bank said.

Hussain could not be reached for comment but he has previously claimed he was set up as the bank's fall guy and that he was encouraged to lend as much money as possible.

- © Fairfax NZ News