By Sumeyya Ilanbey

September 6, 2024 — 4.15pm

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A Westpac whistleblower has claimed she was repeatedly bullied, ignored and deemed a “troublemaker” after making more than a dozen internal complaints about suspected fraud and other criminal activity at the bank’s RAMS Home Loans mortgage broking subsidiary.

Samantha Aitken launched Federal Court proceedings against Westpac, alleging she was “deprecated, disparaged and stigmatised” for raising concerns about RAMS franchises and was prevented from raising her concerns with the banking and corporate regulators.

In a statement of claim filed with the court, the former head of mortgages business controls and monitoring says she first became aware of suspect fraud and other criminal activities at the RAMS Fairfield branch in June 2022 and shortly after identified a number of other franchisees that had potentially engaged in similar conduct.

Aitken complained to then-head of RAMS Jake Bromwich, who is now chief executive at Beyond Bank, and recommended shutting down the Fairfield franchise, and the matter escalated. She alleged Bromwich was aware of concerns at that branch from 2021 and had issued warning letters, but he had not taken any meaningful steps to address them.

“Between June and September 2022, Mr Bromwich repeatedly deprecated, disparaged or stigmatised...

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