How a Sydney psychic allegedly ran one of the nation’s biggest financial crime rings, exposing global vulnerabilities to ‘affinity fraud.’
A colossal financial fraud scheme, allegedly orchestrated by a self-proclaimed Vietnamese “fortune teller” in Sydney, has exposed a critical vulnerability in Australia’s lending sector, drawing global scrutiny to the phenomenon of affinity fraud within tightly-knit diaspora communities. Police have arrested Anya Phan, 53, and her 25-year-old daughter, accusing the pair of being central players in a criminal network that allegedly siphoned an estimated AUD $70 million ($46 million USD) from financial institutions by preying on the trust of vulnerable individuals. This is not merely a local crime story; it is a chilling case study for international banks and regulatory bodies on how a facade of community influence and prophetic promises can be weaponized to compromise vast sums, moving far beyond initial small-scale scams.
The investigation, dubbed Operation Myddleton, initially targeted a sophisticated racket using stolen personal data to secure loans for non-existent “phantom supercars.” However, the scope broadened dramatically, revealing a deep-seated conspiracy involving large-scale personal, business, and mortgage loan fraud across multiple financial organizations. Chief Inspector Gordon Arbinja noted that Phan, a naturalized Australian citizen who was reportedly receiving disability benefits and had no employment history since arriving in 2001, was a figure of immense trust within her local Vietnamese community.
Authorities allege that Phan leveraged this trust—and alleged “prophecies” that her clients would become “future millionaires”—to persuade victims to act as straw borrowers. These individuals were allegedly convinced to take out up to ten loans, each valued at approximately AUD $1.5 million, with Phan allegedly retaining the principal proceeds. The scale of the operation’s alleged ill-gotten gains was underscored by the seizure of luxury items, financial documents, over $6,000 in casino chips, and a $10,000 AUD gold bar during the November 12 dawn raid.
The daughter, arrested alongside Phan at a property in Sydney’s exclusive Dover Heights, is accused of purchasing a $5.3 million AUD Rose Bay house to facilitate the criminal enterprise, highlighting the staggering wealth accumulated by the network. The NSW Crime Commission has since frozen an additional AUD $15 million in assets, bringing the total value of recovered assets in the entire network to approximately AUD $75 million. In total, 17 other individuals have been charged under Operation Myddleton, which investigators now describe as one of the most complex and sophisticated financial crime syndicates they have ever encountered.
Phan now faces 39 charges, including directing a criminal group and multiple counts of fraudulent gain, and was denied bail. This case serves as a stark warning to global wealth managers and lending platforms: the rising reliance on digital and automated loan processing, coupled with the blind spots of cultural affinity, makes the next wave of financial crime less about external hacks and more about internal subversion and the devastating breach of community trust. The true cost of this alleged fraud will be borne not just by the financial firms, but by the victims who now face crippling debt under the guise of a false oracle’s promise.
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