Pedestrians walk past the offices of accounting and auditing firm EY, formerly Ernst & Young in London, UK on Nov. 20, 2020. Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images
An employee at auditing giant Ernst and Young has been sacked after he and another man allegedly accessed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s personal banking account.
The men, aged 21 and 25, faced court on Tuesday over the breach which Australian Federal Police (AFP) alleged occurred when the EY graduate was on secondment at the Commonwealth Bank.
Paul Issa, 21, was charged with accessing restricted data without authorisation, as well as distributing personal data.
Phillip Issa, 25, was charged with facilitating unauthorised access to restricted data.
The two Sydney men were charged on May 6 and granted bail to appear before Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday, an AFP spokesperson said in a statement.
Both men had their bail continued until their next court appearance on Aug. 25.
According to his register of interests, Albanese holds a savings account at CBA, as well as a mortgage for a property on the Central Coast he jointly owns with his wife.
The Australian Federal Police have charged two men, including an employee of auditing giant Ernst and Young, with accessing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s bank details.
At the time, the two were employed to consult for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA).
An Ernst and Young spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by The Epoch Times.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the breach was concerning.
“I think on the face of it, any developments of that kind are incredibly concerning, not just in relation to the PM’s details, but any Australian’s details,” he said.
“I assume that there are now legal and other processes to play out and I don’t want to get in the way of those.”
AAP contributed to this story.
