Event planner Helen Rosamond, founder of Human Group has been given a 15 year jail sentence for her role in a multi-million fraud from National Australia Bank between 2013 and 2018.
Rosamond falsified and inflated invoices from her event management company, by more than $19 million.
In November 2022 she was found guilty of giving corrupt benefits to Rosemary Rogers, a former chief-of-staff & executive assistant to multiple NAB executives including 2 CEOs, and obtained or attempted to obtain property by deception.
In 2020 Rogers pleaded guilty to 56 counts of ‘being an agent corruptly receiving benefit’ and ‘dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception’ and is currently serving 8 years with a minimum 4 years and 4 months with no parole.
At the time the judge noted that Rogers had abused her considerable influence at NAB. She had the power to approve invoices of up to $20 million and ensured that Human Group got the contracts. Once the invoices were received, she would sign them off for payment.
The judge sentencing Rosamond, who had pleaded not guilty, said that “The overarching motivation of the offender is accurately described as one of greed, self-gratification and enrichment,”
Rosamond submitted that Rogers was more to blame but the judge said that the two depended on each other and both were equally responsible.
Rosamond not only defrauded NAB but also her own company and even hid the extent of her takings from her partner in crime.
Rosamond gave no evidence herself but expressed remorse via a third party. However, she received a maximum sentence of 15 years and will be eligible for release in 2030.
NAB
The fraud only came to light in 2018 when a whistleblower at NAB alleged that Rogers was conspiring with executive events company, Human Group, to defraud the bank out of millions of dollars.
NAB Group Executive, Legal and Commercial Services, Sharon Cook acknowledged that the bank’s checks and balances were revised following the discovery of the fraud.
“After we became aware of the fraud, we overhauled our controls and processes, including reducing expense delegations and introducing additional checks on expenses,” she said.
Scale of the fraud
The sentence relates to criminal activity between 2013 and 2018, but Human group started working for NAB in 2005 and the total amount involved is unknown.
Police only analysed accounts between 2013 and 2018, which showed that over half ($18 million) of the $35 million invoiced during this period was stolen by the pair.
Estimates suggest that Rosemond and Rogers may have stolen upwards of $62 million from National Australia Bank over 13 years between 2005 and 2018.
One invoice was for the on-boarding the former NSW premier, Mike Baird. The activity was managed by a separate company for a fee of $60,000 but the figure presented to NAB was for $2.2 million.
