Veronica Fong,accused of taking the money from the Montgomery Street bank over an eight-year period between 2000 and 2008.

Veronica Fong, 44, appeared in Sydney's Central Local Court yesterday facing 22 charges of obtaining money by deception.Fong, of Baptist Street, Redfern, is accused of taking the money from the Montgomery Street bank over an eight-year period between 2000 and 2008.The mother of one, who started working at the bank in March 1987, was arrested on Tuesday April 8 after the police phoned her and asked her to go to the City Central police station. Fong, who was sacked by the bank this week when the allegations came to light, worked as a client co-ordinator in the private division for most of her career, apart from in 2006 when she was the senior lending officer for specialised mortgage solutions.Her duties included updating and granting temporary overdrafts. She is accused of granting $1,432,071.58 to accounts in her husband's and father's names.As part of her job Fong trained staff and she is said to have accessed the St George banking computer system when her colleagues were logged on in their names. No other staff were aware of the alleged fraud, police said.The alleged offence was detected via a random audit conducted by the bank.
Fong did not enter a plea yesterday and she was released on bail after a surety was put up in her name. She is due to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on April 22.