National Australia Bank gave a schizophrenic man a $10,000 credit card which he used to buy crystals and Buddha statues.
Uries Manna, who is medically retired and lives off a disability support pension, was able to blow $8,000 online from his bed in a mental hospital in Ballarat, Victoria.
His brother, prominent lawyer Josh Mennen, said the bank should not have loaned the 37-year-old that much money due to his mental illness.
The head of Maurice Blackburn’s insurance and superannuation law said ‘alarm bells should have been ringing’ when his brother made his application.
National Australia Bank gave schizophrenic man Uries Manna a $10,000 credit card
‘This is another clear example of a sales culture within the banking system which is all about maximising commissions, bonuses and profits rather than assessing customers’ actual needs,’ he told the Herald Sun.
He said his brother’s case showed why Australia needed the recently-announced Royal Commission into banking.
Mr Manna admitted he was ‘quite unwell’ and having delusions at the time, and was ‘amazed’ how easily the line of credit was handed to him.
‘They shouldn’t have just given me money so I could blow it. I’ve got nothing to show for it except a necklace, crystals and a couple of Buddha statues,’ he said.
Mr Manna told NAB he wanted the money to start a painting business and listed his expenses at $800 a month – just $26 a day.
His brother, prominent lawyer Josh Mennen, said the bank should not have loaned the 37-year-old that much money due to his mental illness
Mr Mennen, now the manager of his brother’s affairs, said this was ‘unrealistically low’ and proper checks were not applied.
He wrote in a complaint to Financial Ombudsman Service that his brother’s expenses were three times that and double what the bank used to assess his application.
Mr Manna’s only asset was his house, which he bought with his total and permanent disability payment, and only had his pension and rental income from a boarder for income.
The bank said despite Mr Manna’s application, it used the higher Household Expense Measure industry benchmark as was standard practice.
Both brothers thought people with mental illnesses should be able to get loans, but proper checks were not performed in this case.
‘Giving a $10,000 credit card to a bloke on the DSP is not right, whether he knows what he’s wants its for or not,’ Mr Mennen said.
Mr Manna used the credit card to buy $8,000 worth of crystals and Buddha statues
NAB told Daily Mail Australia it did not take mental illness into account when assessing loans, as this would be discrimination, and just looked at an applicant’s ability to pay back the loan.
‘As a responsible lender, NAB conducts a number of credit assessments to ensure a customer is able to afford their line of credit,’ it said.
‘This includes verification of any income, expenses, and checks with credit bureaus.’
NAB agreed to waive Mr Manna’s credit card debt after a review of all the circumstances and his personal situation.