Update: July 30
On July 30, Romani's lawyer Raminder Arora informed Glacier Media that Rashin Rohani has appealed both the findings of liability from the hearing panel on Jan. 11, 2024 as well as the sanctions ordered on May 17; Rohani filed the appeal June 13. As a result, Arora says the tribunal has stayed enforcement of both the liability decision as well as the sanctions decision until the appeal is heard.
Rohani appeals on grounds the hearing officer erred in finding Rohani knew Chaudhary provided lenders with false information and knew Chaudhary was unlicensed when she sought his services. Rohani also disputes that she was paid by Chaudhary for referrals.
Alternatively, Rohani seeks only a six-month suspension of her licence and a $20,000 fine.
Original: July 15
A B.C. Realtor who falsified her income to purchase five North Vancouver properties through an unregistered mortgage broker has been barred from the industry and fined $130,000.
The B.C. Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) revoked the licence of Realtor Rashin Rohani and ordered her to pay a $40,000 penalty and $90,000 for enforcement costs for her role in an alleged widespread mortgage fraud network involving numerous licensees, a BCFSA hearing panel ruled Jan. 11, 2024.
The panel found Rohani committed professional misconduct for using an unlicensed mortgage broker, failed to disclose to clients payments from the broker, and falsified income statements on mortgage applications, including five of her own.
Rohani participated “in a fraudulent document scheme that would bring the real estate industry into disrepute” when she used the services of an unregistered mortgage broker, ruled Chief Hearing Officer Andrew Pendray.
Fraud faked annual income, savings
According to BCFSA investigators, Rohani was able to purchase her first North Vancouver home in 2016 by declaring a T1 General tax form falsely showing she had $182,079 annual income and savings of up to $350,137. This allowed Rohani to obtain $1.4 million in mortgage financing.
Rohani later provided investigators with her actual 2015 notice of assessment showing just $16,612 income and a maximum savings of only $50,137 — a stark difference from the information filed to lenders.
The regulator also raised evidence showing six instances in which Rohani secured mortgages for clients by using falsified income documents from the unregistered mortgage broker.
Rohani pleaded for a smaller penalty, claiming she is a single mother whose income is derived from monthly workers’ compensation payments, and that if she needed help, her family in Iran would provide her with money.
In order to reduce the penalties, Rohani also claimed her income was “just enough to cover expenses,” according to the ruling. But in its submissions, BCFSA pointed out that Rohani, “by some means, was able to service five mortgages in the past and currently services three mortgages.”
Ultimately, Pendray considered Rohani’s misconduct to be “severe" but provided some leniency to Rohani considering BCFSA sought just over $216,000 in penalties.
“In this case Ms. Rohani repetitively, over the course of a number of years, elected to personally participate in a deceptive mortgage application scheme for her own benefit, and subsequently, arranged for her clients to participate in the same deceptive mortgage application scheme,” stated Pendray, whose ruling also noted none of the mortgages led to delinquencies.
Part of 'large network' using falsified income records
Rohani’s misconduct is directly linked to her use of the services provided by an unregistered mortgage broker identified as “Individual 1” in Pendray’s ruling.
The ruling refers to a May 29, 2019 cease and desist order from the Financial Institutions Commission of BC (FICOM, which was later absorbed by the BCFSA) issued against "Individual 1."
That order alleges Jay Kanth Chaudhary arranged over half a billion dollars in loans, many of which could be based on falsified income records.
“Mr. Chaudhary had a large network of registered submortgage brokers … as well as real estate licensees that he used to facilitate his unregistered mortgage broker activities,” the order stated.
The order stated the Vancouver Police Department had seized Chaudhary’s computers in February 2019.
Included in those files was a spreadsheet of registered submortgage brokers and Realtors Chaudhary worked with.
Rohani was listed as a borrower in the client spreadsheet, and as a Realtor who had received a finders fee for client referrals, according to Pendray's ruling.
Investigators claimed Rohani had received a one per cent finders’ fee for 12 client referrals, totalling $72,639 in referral fees, added Pendray.
No criminal proceedings against Chaudhary
Chaudhary filed $511.6 million of loans to lenders between 2009 and 2018, according to FICOM investigators. Chaudhary is said to have arranged the mortgages under aliases and after having his submortgage broker licence revoked in 2008.
Chaudhary's spreadsheet included 875 files that generated $5.28 million in client fees and $642,344 referral fees “paid by the registered submortgage brokers who submitted the applications to lenders on his behalf,” according to the FICOM order.
Pendray noted in his ruling that "Individual 1" was summoned to the Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in British Columbia in February 2021 and indicated that he falsified documents “on an ongoing basis” throughout the time that he operated his unregistered mortgage business.
However, there is no record of criminal proceedings against Chaudhary and BCFSA has not brought an administrative hearing against him.
BCFSA has eight active administrative hearing notices with licensed Realtors facing allegations of falsified income on mortgage applications with an unlicensed submortgage broker identified only as “Individual 1.”
