Mortgage fraud: Gurraj Singh Bhachu sentenced over $2.8m scam

Gurraj Singh Bhachu, a second defendant in the Serious Fraud Office’s (SFO) investigation into alleged mortgage fraud, has been sentenced to nine months’ home detention at the Auckland District Court.

Bhachu, who no longer has name suppression, pleaded guilty in September 2025 to 12 charges relating to four properties involved in the alleged mortgage fraud. The court also imposed six months’ standard release conditions.

According to the SFO, Bhachu made false representations to banks and conveyancing solicitors to obtain bank loans totalling $2,862,650 for three residential properties.

The offending included providing false documents relating to business income and cash gifts, misrepresenting who the true borrower was, and the deposits paid. He also made false representations to obtain control of residential properties, either for himself or others.

SFO Director Karen Chang said deliberately providing false information to a bank to obtain a mortgage undermines the integrity of New Zealand’s lending system.

“The banks were misled in a number of ways, including the financial position of the borrower and the level of risk to the bank. This affects the ability of hard-working New Zealanders to obtain lending for their own homes,” she said.

In 2019, Mr Bhachu left New Zealand. When he returned in December 2023, he was arrested and charged by the SFO.

The SFO has charged six people in the complex mortgage and investment fraud case, alleging they engaged in a scheme to fraudulently obtain credit and properties. In total, the defendants are alleged to have obtained more than $8.6 million in lending and attempted to obtain a further $2.9 million.

Bhachu is the second defendant to be sentenced in the case. The first, Francis (Frank) Peters, was sentenced in August 2024 to nine months and two weeks’ home detention in relation to four charges of obtaining by deception. Peters, who was a lawyer at the time of the offending, is no longer able to practise law in New Zealand after being struck off the roll of barristers and solicitors in April 2025.

Charges have also been filed against Christopher Peters, Robert Peters, Gerard Peters and Serene Peters for obtaining $1.8 million by deception in an alleged investment fraud. Christopher Peters and Robert Peters have also been charged with obtaining those funds by forgery as an alternative charge.

The trial of Christopher Peters and Robert Peters is scheduled for February 2026. A trial date has not yet been set for Gerard Peters and Serene Peters.

Bhachu’s sentence took into account discounts for his guilty plea, remorse and cooperation with the SFO’s investigation.