B.C. mortgage brokerage that hired sex offender ordered to pay $16K
A B.C. mortgage brokerage is on the hook for $16,000 after it failed to keep an eye on a convicted sex offender it employed.
According to an Oct. 19 B.C. Financial Services Authority penalty decision, mortgage brokerage Invis was supposed to make sure one of its submortgage brokers did not meet in person with any female clients unless under supervision.
The decision says in 2000 the unnamed mortgage broker was charged with nine counts of sexual assault and later convicted of three.
The broker was sentenced to one year of house arrest.
The decision does not say what town or city the broker was working in.
The broker applied for registration in 2002 but was denied and barred from applying for five years.
Then in 2016, he reapplied for his mortgage broker registration.
Two years later he became registered as a submortgage broker with Invis, subject to a number of conditions.
The conditions stipulated that for two years he be under the direct supervision of a supervisor at Invis.
He was also prohibited from meeting in person with any females unless he was in the company of his supervisor.
However, over 2018 and 2019 the broker employed two female assistants at different times.
The decision says one of the assistants was aware of the broker's conditions, but the other was not.
"During the course of their employment, there were occasions on which (the broker) was alone in the Invis office with the female assistants while not in the direct company of the supervisor," the decision reads.
In November 2019 the broker then started working from an office space in a building which he had bought.
"As a result, the supervisor could not supervise (the broker)," the decision reads.
In early 2020 the broker applied to renew his licence and it was found that he had not completed a required course so an investigation was triggered.
In July 2020 the broker successfully renewed his licence with the same conditions.
However, more than one year later he was found to still be working out of his own office and not the Invis office.
In March the B.C. Financial Service Authority alerted Invis that a hearing would take place.
The company refused to renew the broker's licence that day.
The regulator says it's aggravating that Invis was aware of the conditions but the broker stopped working out of its office in 2019.
The Financial Services Authority says Invis' misconduct occurred over the period of several years and while there is no evidence that the broker dealt with any females in an inappropriate manner, "there was some risk of harm."
Invis waived its right to a hearing and signed a consent agreement admitting the misconduct.
The company was fined $12,500 plus investigation costs $3,591.
Invis has 30 days to pay.
The decision says the broker has never applied to renew his registration.
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