The Alberta Insurance Council has published its second decision in recent weeks related to advisors who knowingly initiated life insurance applications which included falsified client addresses, phone numbers and banking information.
In this case, Rana Bajrang Thakur is being sanctioned with a civil penalty of $50,000 for initiating 10 life insurance applications with falsified client information.
Thakur was registered as a life accident and sickness agent in Alberta from August 2012 until she was terminated December 2021. The termination notice sent to the regulator indicated that she initiated client insurance applications without proper authorization from clients and also provided the falsified contact information on applications. A life agent reporting form (LARF) from the insurer later indicated that the agent’s contract was terminated because the evidence suggested Thakur was engaged in fraud and misrepresentation.
Specifically, it was noted that multiple applications were submitted with the agency’s office address stated as the proposed insured’s home address. Phone numbers were used across multiple applications for those who were not related to each other or living at the same address.
In an interview, Thakur said it was the clients themselves who provided the incorrect information because they could not say no to the agent. She claims she has since cut off relations with every client who did this.
In its decision, the council noted that it took specific issue with this explanation. “Despite the explanation from the agent that the clients provided the information on the applications, it is the council’s opinion that the agent intentionally provided false information on the insurance applications for a self-serving purpose,” they write.
In this case, the insurance council has the ability to impose a civil penalty not exceeding $5,000 per demonstrated offense. It ordered the full amount in each of the 10 cases presented in the decision, for a total civil penalty of $50,000.
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