A Commonwealth Bank banker earning as much as $450,000 a year has lost his unfair dismissal case after the Fair Work Commission described his evidence as a “chaotic collection of lies”.
Shun Wang, a senior home lending executive who assessed and approved loan applications, challenged his termination after CBA found he had breached its lending, privacy and technology policies.
The former Reserve Bank auditor received a base salary of $250,000 and was eligible for annual bonuses of up to $200,000.
The bank began investigating him after an anonymous complaint was submitted through CBA’s SpeakUP whistleblower program in November 2024, according to the judgment.
The inquiry identified failures to properly verify and record customers’ income. It also examined Mr Wang’s use of WeChat and a personal mobile phone to discuss loan matters.
Investigators cleared Mr Wang of claims that he had refinanced problematic home loans, and the commission found no improper payments had been established. However, a wider review found that company JS Sonic and some customers whose loans had been refinanced paid tens of thousands of dollars to a previously unidentified third party.
The payments were made to Zonghui “Hugo” Feng, whom CBA suspected may have been acting as a mortgage broker. They occurred around the time the relevant loans were approved, the commission said.
The FWC decision said the bank found five customers referred through JS Sonic had paid Mr Feng almost $49,000. JS Sonic had also made six payments to him totalling more than $81,000, while Regis Lawyers made six payments worth more than $61,000. The descriptions included “service fee” and “referral fee”.
The Fair Work Commission ruled that Commonwealth Bank had a valid reason to terminate senior lender Shun Wang
CBA regarded the payments as a red flag, according to the decision. The bank believed Mr Feng may have been referring customers through JS Sonic and receiving payments despite not being an approved referral partner, which would have breached the rules of its referral program.
The commission noted that mortgage brokers are prohibited from taking part in the referral program, either directly or indirectly.
The judgment also stated that many customers referred through JS Sonic and Regis Lawyers had submitted financial documents prepared by the same accounting firm, Accountants Direct Pty Ltd.
Although the commission did not find that improper payments had been made, it said CBA considered the transactions a significant warning sign that helped prompt the broader investigation.
Both JS Sonic and Regis Lawyers were later removed from the bank’s referral program, the decision said.
Deputy President Gerard Boyce delivered a scathing assessment of Mr Wang’s evidence, calling it a “chaotic collection of lies, nonsense, poorly matched ideas, and manufactured responses”.
The commission heard that Mr Wang repeatedly denied knowing Zonghui “Hugo” Feng during the bank’s investigation.
However, a forensic examination of his work phone found a contact saved under the name “Hugo”. Investigators also uncovered evidence of a WeChat group involving Mr Wang, referral partner Weijie “Jack” Qin and Mr Feng, which was used to share customer leads and loan updates.
Deputy President Gerard Boyce (pictured) sharply criticised Mr Wang’s evidence, describing it as a “chaotic collection of lies, nonsense, poorly matched ideas, and manufactured responses”
Deputy President Boyce rejected Mr Wang’s claim that he knew Mr Feng only as “Old Hu”, describing the explanation as “unbridled nonsense” and a “complete fabrication”.
He found that CBA had valid grounds to dismiss the senior lender, saying the “falsity” of Mr Wang’s evidence was “inescapable and self-evident”.
“Mr Wang knew exactly who Hugo [or Hugo Feng] was at the first meeting, but thought he could get away with pretending otherwise,” he wrote in the published decision.
“Mr Wang not only intentionally misled the [CBA’s] SpeakUP investigators, he has sought to intentionally mislead the Commission.”
The commission also heard that Mr Wang admitted failing to properly record employment income on some loan applications. He said he had “forgot” and, in one instance, was “lazy to verify the PAYG income”.
Mr Wang further admitted sharing loan approval and settlement updates through the WeChat group. Those messages had been deleted before investigators were able to examine them, the commission heard.
The commission concluded that Mr Wang had failed to properly verify customers’ income, discussed loan matters improperly through WeChat and a personal phone, and repeatedly misled investigators about his relationship with Mr Feng.
Deputy President Boyce dismissed the unfair dismissal application, finding that CBA had a valid reason to terminate Mr Wang’s employment.
“The consequences that flow from [Mr Wang’s] conduct, financially and reputationally, are all on him,” he said.
The ruling comes as ASIC prepares a wide-ranging review of bank referrer programs, lender incentives and mortgage broker oversight. The regulator is expected to examine the mortgage pipeline from bank lenders and third-party referrers through to broker networks and lending controls.
The Commonwealth Bank has been contacted for comment.