CIRO bars BC advisor who impersonated a client to mortgage his home
Liu opened a chequing account at The Bank of Nova Scotia in the client’s name on January 25, 2021, then entered a forged electronic funds transfer request into the client’s PI file on February 5, 2021.
Seventeen transfers through to July 2022 produced a net misappropriation of $52,695.38, and by July 31, 2022 the accounts held $43.31.
Copies of the client’s driver’s licence and passport were used in March 2022 to obtain a $268,400 mortgage against his residence, the panel found, and in September 2023 Liu forged the client’s identity again to draw $10,295 through a Scotiabank line of credit and credit card.
Between December 2022 and August 2023, the client also lent Liu 594,000 Chinese yuan, documented by a July 31, 2023 promissory note for 600,000 yuan, approximately $110,640 at the time.
PI neither knew of the loan nor approved it, and it has not been repaid.
