Regulator fines agent for issuing fake insurance certificates

The General Insurance Council of the Alberta Insurance Council has published a decision fining level 1 general insurance agent, HakanBahadir, $26,000 – that is, $500 per offence for 52 offenses – after it found Bahadir guilty of dishonesty, deceitfulness, untrustworthiness and fraud.

An investigation into Bahadir’s activity began after he was terminated for cause in March 2019. In its termination letter, a copy of which was sent to the insurance council, the agency, known only as A.I. Brokers in the decision documents, states that Bahadir had provided confidential client information to another brokerage and committed fraud by providing fake certificates of insurance to commercial clients and individuals clients, knowing full well that there was no coverage in place. The firm also provided a 781-page investigative report to the insurance council for its review.

“The former agency’s investigation alleged that 26 insurance clients, both commercial and private, were affected by the agent’s activities. Allegedly, 52 insurance certificates were issued by the agent but were not in existence nor were they in force,” the insurance council writes in its decision. The falsified documents included certificates of liability, tenant’s legal liability, commercial general liability and 44 automobile insurance certificates. In at least one instance, the agent even engaged with law enforcement to attest that the insurance policies were in place when, in fact, they were not.

During the course of its investigation, Bahadir told the insurance council’s investigators that he received very little guidance or oversight from his firm, and that his actions were not deliberate. “Whilst council is cognizant that the Act and its regulations require oversight of general level 1 insurance agents, the agent’s reckless and untrustworthy conduct in attending to his duties exposed his clients and the general public to real and actual harm,” they write. “The council rejects the agent’s position, as his complete utter disregard of his duties as an insurance agent fall far beyond an administrative oversight.”