A prominent Richmond real estate agent and developer has been suspended for six months after admitting to forging signatures to process a land assembly deal.
The B.C. Financial Services Authority (BCFSA), the provincial government-sanctioned regulator of real estate professionals, issued the suspension against Ramandeep Singh Kooner and his personal real estate corporation via a consent order on July 29.
“Licensees have a duty to act honestly, with reasonable care and skill and these actions undermine the integrity of the real estate industry and constitute wrongful or deceptive dealing,” said BCFSA director of investigations Raheel Humayun, via a statement on Aug. 30.
Humayun alluded to the fact Kooner’s penalties, including a $10,000 fine and $5,000 order to pay enforcement costs, could have been more significant.
“The penalties imposed by BCFSA on this real estate licensee were the maximum allowed when the misconduct occurred. In 2016, discipline penalties were increased to $250,000 per contravention in order to address and deter serious misconduct of this nature,” said Humayun.
On Aug. 21, 2015, three neighbouring property owners in Richmond signed a contract of purchase and sale with a buyer, subject to the City of Richmond approving the land assembly, the regulator stated.
Kooner became involved in the land assembly deal when he assisted a group of assignees in taking over the contract from the buyer.
It was Sep. 22, 2015, when Kooner, on behalf of the assignees, gave the city’s letters of authorization to a colleague at Seafair Realty to have the letters signed by the property owners. However, two of the property owners did not sign the letters, the regulator noted.
“Shortly afterwards, two of the property owners went to Richmond City Hall to ask about the risk of signing the letters, only to discover that the letters had already been signed and submitted by Kooner.
“When the City discovered the signatures were not those of the property owners, it cancelled the rezoning application and the buyer, ultimately, did not complete the Contracts of Purchase and Sale,” the regulator added.
Kooner claimed to have verbal consent from the third owner who he said claimed to have the consent of the neighbours, although he did not verify this claim with the neighbours.
Around the time of the contentious land assembly Kooner was an outspoken critic of Richmond residents expressing concern about large homes being redeveloped in single-detached home neighbourhoods. Kooner expressed concerns about property values lowering if further restrictions were put in place of so-called “mega homes.”
Between 2014 and 2022, Kooner has donated a total of $20,150 to select council candidates, including Mayor Malcolm Brodie and councillors Bill McNulty and Alexa Loo. (Much of the donations were made via corporate entities and prior to a ban on such donations.)
The full consent agreement is posted online.
