Wellington, July 25 NZPA - A former Westpac mortgage manager has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for his part in a scam whose victims were poor people buying homes in south Auckland in 2005 and banks.

Amar Singh was sentenced in Manukau District Court a day after Ranjeet Prasad was sentenced to eight months' home detention and 400 hours of community work and ordered to pay $80,000 in reparation to victims.

The mortgage scam involved $5.3 million of loans that produced losses of $760,000 for Westpac and other banks.

There were three others charged in the case taken up by the Serious Fraud Office in 2007.

Applications for mortgages misrepresented the values of the properties as well as the assets and salaries of borrowers. They included forged supporting documents like bank statements, employment letters and wage slips.

Many of the loan applicants had no money for a deposit.

Prasad arranged for his clients to purchase the properties at inflated values from his co-defendants.

Singh knowingly processed 14 applications through Westpac and submitted applications to other lenders under his own name.

Judge Anna Johns said the statements from the victims of the scam "made sad reading".

The scam had targeted hard working people who were desperate to own their own homes but had no money for a deposit.

Singh was ordered to pay $13,000 in reparation to victims.

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