The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) has refused to issue an insurance agent’s license to a former lawyer sanctioned by the province’s Law Society Tribunal for his participation in mortgage fraud and “complete and total abdication of the lawyer’s function,” according to the FSRA notice of proposal to refuse to issue an insurance agent’s license to Aman Maharaj.
In its reasons, FSRA states that Maharaj provided false information on his licensing application when he failed to disclose the sanctions.
Previously licensed as a lawyer from 1996 until February 2009 when he was found to have committed professional misconduct, Maharaj was allowed to surrender his license to practice law in Ontario, resign his membership in the Law Society and pay costs of $10,000.
In June 2021, the former lawyer submitted an application to FSRA for an insurance agent’s license, sponsored by the American Income Life Insurance Company, but answered ‘no’ to questions inquiring about having been the subject of disciplinary proceedings. When the non-disclosure was discovered, Maharaj apologized, saying the omission was an oversight. Of the Law Society proceedings, he said he was the victim of the deceptive practices of others more senior to him in his role.
“Maharaj’s conduct while seeking licensing speaks to a concerted effort to mislead FSRA and avoid providing particulars of the Law Society disciplinary proceedings wherein he admitted to abdicating his responsibilities as a lawyer which facilitated mortgage frauds of approximately 17 transactions over the course of 14 months,” FSRA’s notice of proposal states. “When questioned about these proceedings, Maharaj either trivialized his non-disclosure or claimed to have been a victim. However, the Law Society disciplinary order clearly identified that Maharaj’s conduct indicates a considerable degree of lack of competence and an almost total abdication of the function of a competent real estate lawyer.” Citing that order, they add that the transactions all had the standard red flags that an observant and competent real estate lawyer would have recognized.
“The senior manager (of licensing and compliance at FSRA) believes that Maharaj is not a candidate for supervisory conditions given the risk of public harm,” FSRA states.
