Top-selling Sask. realtors faked paperwork to get mortgages approved for clients, police say
A fraud scheme involving fake documents used to qualify for a mortgage has been linked to two former Saskatoon real estate agents.
Kamanashis Deb is facing 17 counts of fraud and Debashis Deb is facing two counts. Royal LePage Varsity recognized the two realtors as top selling agents in September.
Police said the falsified documents were provided to three different Saskatoon banks under the names of their clients.
The documents included letters of employment, pay stubs and T4s.
The mortgage applications would not have been approved without the falsified documents, according to police.
Chris Guérette, CEO of the Saskatchewan Realtors Association (SRA), called the alleged actions “absolutely unacceptable.”
Kamanashis Deb’s SRA membership ended in December and Debashis Deb’s ended this month.
“These are two former realtors. They no longer are members of our association,” Chris Guérette, CEO of the SRA, told CTV News.
“But even despite all that, I think it still, unfortunately, in the public eye paints a negative brush on the entire industry … and I think that's really unfortunate because it's a profession with very high standards.”
Guérette said realtors must renew their licence each year and adhere to a code of ethics.
The investigation began two years ago, after police received a report that falsified banking documents were submitted with several mortgage applications.
Police said eight applications with false documents were discovered at one financial institution.
The other nine charges followed search warrants executed on Palliser Court, McClocklin Road and 8th Street East.
In January, Debashis Deb turned himself in at Saskatoon Police headquarters, where he was arrested.
Two months later, Kamanashis Deb did the same thing.
None of the allegations have been tested in court.
As the investigation unfolds, police say more charges could be laid.
MORE CASES OF FRAUD AMID A SELLERS MARKET
Chirag Mehta, the director of operations at True North Mortgage, said he’s seeing more mortgage fraud attempts.
“On the lender side, we’ve started seeing an influx of those fraudulent files. We were able to catch them and stop them in the very beginning of the process,” Meta told CTV News.
Mehta said he’s heard of realtors selling fraudulent documents, so clients can qualify for a mortgage.
“Some people may even charge a fee to get those documents, and then get paid from the lender as a commission,” he explained.
Mehta said mortgage fraud not only hurts the lender, but the entire real estate market by potentially increasing competition and property prices.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
U.S. flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States.