The name suppression of a couple allegedly involved in committing at least $50 million worth of mortgage fraud with a banker and a lawyer, has been lifted.

It can now be revealed the Serious Fraud Office has accused property developer Kang (Thomas) Huang and Yan (Jenny) Zhang of being involved in a ring that fraudulently obtained money to buy 76 properties around Auckland and Hamilton.

The husband and wife duo are otherwise known as Gang Wang and Kang Xu.

The SFO alleges the couple and their co-conspirators provided false information or documents, or withheld information from either BNZ or ANZ, to get loans to buy properties between December 2011 and October 2015.

BNZ confirms it employed one of the accused, Zongliang (Charly) Jiang, as a mobile mortgage manager until October 2013. Meanwhile Jiang’s Facebook page says he worked at ANZ in 2013, and was employed by Westpac from 2006 until 2010.

The other accused, Gang (Richard) Chen, is a non-practising lawyer.

All four defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges laid against them. They will appear in the Auckland High Court later this year, and will be trialled by judge from February 26 next year. The trial is expected to take 12 weeks.

A Google search summary of the defendants’ histories

Huang and Zhang are behind the now defunct Green Gardens Finance Trust - a company the Financial Markets Authority in July 2015 made its first ever Stop Order against due to it offering investments illegally.

The FMA warned the public to be wary of doing business with Green Gardens Finance, with the Order prohibiting it from offering, issuing and accepting applications for debt securities, and accepting further contributions, investments or deposits for debt securities.

Huang has also made headlines in the Waikato; his now defunct company LV Park reportedly slowing the building of a property development in Tamahere as it “waited for funds” in 2015.

Locals have accused LV Park of using its large (IE nine-bedroom) houses as student accommodation, turning the quiet area into a “pigsty”.

Stuff reports LV Park built between 80 and 100 houses in the four years to February 2015.

As for Chen, in 2015 he was censured and fined $5,000 by the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal after he admitted to accepting money from a client, but not paying it into the trust account he was supposed to, for some months.

The Tribunal gave him a “final warning” that if further conduct of that nature occurred, his status as a practitioner would be “at risk”. He was ordered to reimburse the Law Society and Tribunal costs of around $16,000.

Chen was in March last year also fined $1,000 and banned from driving for six months, for crashing his car while drunk.

He is no longer on the Law Society’s Register of Lawyers.

Back to the detail of the mortgage fraud charges

Huang (property developer) faces eight charges (two representative) of obtaining by deception and one of dishonest use of a document under the Crimes Act. These charges allege he unlawfully obtained funds of about $50 million.

He also faces a Secret Commission Act charge of corruptly giving consideration to an agent, involving a $7,000 payment.

Zhang faces 34 Crimes Act charges of obtaining by deception. It is alleged that by virtue of her offending, she unlawfully obtained funds of about $30 million.

Jiang (banker) faces 25 Crimes Act charges of obtaining by deception, which allege he unlawfully obtained $17 million. He also faces one representative Secret Commission Act charge of corruptly accepting consideration as an inducement or reward, involving $235,000.

Chen (lawyer) faces 11 Crimes Act charges of obtaining by deception in relation to allegedly obtaining $47 million, and one representative Secret Commission Act charge of corruptly giving consideration to an agent, involving a $511,000 payment.