Two EY graduates are sacked and charged after allegedly hacking Albanese's bank account details in a major Commonwealth Bank security scare

By KYLIE STEVENS, SENIOR BREAKING NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 00:39, 30 June 2026 | Updated: 00:46, 30 June 2026 Two Ernst and Young graduates have been sacked after allegedly accessing the personal banking details of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and a senior executive. The men, who were part of the accounting firm's March cohort, were placed on secondment at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to consult on its technology systems. While on the placement, the pair allegedly accessed the banking details of Albanese and a senior EY partner, sources told the Australian Financial Review. They claimed the pair would have received a system warning requiring them to confirm they were authorised to access a customer's confidential information before proceeding.  Under its contract with CBA, EY staff undergo extensive training and are told customer accounts can only be accessed for legitimate work purposes. Two former junior employees, men aged 21 and 25, were charged by Australian Federal Police on May 6. The 21-year-old was charged with unauthorised access to or modification of restricted data and 'using a carriage service to make available, publish or otherwise distribute information that is personal data of one or more individuals, and engaging in that conduct in a way that reasonable persons would regard, in all the circumstances, as menacing or harassing towards those individuals'. The older man was charged with one count of unauthorised access to restricted data. The personal bank details of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured with wife Jodie Haydon) were allegedly accessed by two Ernst and Young graduates The pair have been reportedly been sacked and charged by Australian Federal Police The men were on secondment to the Commonwealth Bank when they allegedly accessed the details of Albanese and a senior EY partner Both graduates are due to appear in Newtown Local Court on Tuesday.  A CBA spokeswoman told the Daily Mail it was inappropriate for the bank to comment on individual contractor matters.  The Daily Mail has contacted EY and the Prime Minister's office for comment.  EY has since reiterated its strict policies to employees after CBA alerted the consultancy firm to the alleged breach. Albanese owns two properties - his former Marrickville home in Sydney's inner west and a $4.3million clifftop mansion purchased with partner Jodie Haydon in Copacabana on the NSW Central Coast in September 2024.  The purchase attracted criticism from some voters amid Australia's housing crisis.  The Copacabana property has a CBA mortgage, according to the federal parliament’s register of members’ interests. The allegations emerge as senior figures at KPMG, EY's rival, also face accusations involving confidential information.  KPMG, which has 297 active federal contracts worth $653million, allegedly misused confidential board papers to win new audit contracts and mistreated a whistleblower who raised concerns. KPMG has yet to face any major penalty but is under a three-month moratorium on new finance department work. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.