Australian financial services firm Latitude Financial has written off AUD2.5m ( $1.68m ) of debt after a salesman at furniture retailer Harvey Norman falsified documents to sign up Indigenous customers. The contracts drawn up today were largely for consumers with limited English and no stable income, before being discovered by Lutheran Community Care financial counsellors. Through a remediation programme overseen by Lutheran Community Care has nearly completed the write-offs for 300 accounts, while also accepting recommendations on increasing monitoring and training of sales staff. Lutheran Community Care financial counsellors first discovered the debts in the community and alerted the Financial Rights Legal Centre. Furthermore, the Harvey Norman salesman was terminated immediately once identified.
Australian financial services firm Latitude Financial has written off AUD2.5m ( $1.68m ) of debt after a salesman at furniture retailer Harvey Norman falsified documents to sign up Indigenous customers. The contracts drawn up today were largely for consumers with limited English and no stable income, before being discovered by Lutheran Community Care financial counsellors. Through a remediation programme overseen by Lutheran Community Care has nearly completed the write-offs for 300 accounts, while also accepting recommendations on increasing monitoring and training of sales staff. Furthermore, the Harvey Norman salesman was terminated immediately once identified.