Banker, agent told homebuyers to fake assets, court filing says

The prospective buyers of a $2.46-million Richmond home put down a $120,000 deposit. When they were turned down at three major national banks for financing to complete the deal, an employee at Royal Bank of Canada and a real estate agent at Richmond-based Metro Edge Realty advised them to exaggerate or fake assets in China to qualify for a mortgage, according to a notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court.

None of the allegations in the claim have been proven in court.

Yan Zhao and Wei Na Hao, who live in Richmond and are originally from China, claim in court filings they were told to persuade “family and friends in China to lend their (Chinese-language deposit slips)” and then to doctor them to look as if they were the ones with these Chinese assets.

The court documents state they were told “RBC would provide mortgage financing” if the couple did a good job of forging the certificates of deposit.

In the end, the buyers did not apply for mortgage financing from RBC, according to court documents, but when the deal fell through, they were unable to get back their deposit because the offer was subject-free. The pair launched the civil suit on June 15 for their deposit, plus legal costs.

The claim states Metro Edge’s Wendy Yang wrote the offer for the property on behalf of the buyers.

In a response to that claim, Metro Edge denied “each and every allegation” and specifically denied that “any representations were made on its behalf as alleged.”

The sellers of the home, named in the original claim as “the Chopras,” also filed a counterclaim, declaring the deposit as being “forfeitable” because the buyers didn’t complete the contract. They also filed a counterclaim against Metro Edge and, “more specifically Ms. Yang.”

The buyers’ claim says a “Mr. Sun at Royal Bank of Canada” presented the couple “with an example of a certificate of deposit that (he) indicated had been forged in the manner (he) described.”

It states the buyers told Yang they had no other assets with which to buy the house.

It claims Yang directed them to Sun to discuss mortgage funding, and that Sun and Yang are married.

According to the court claim, the buyers were told, in detail by Yang, they could “download forms from the Internet to fake proof of assets in China” and offered a “template for the forgery.”

Reached by telephone, Yang declined to comment, directing queries to her lawyer, who did not return a call to Postmedia News. The plaintiffs, Zhao and Hao, were also not available for comment, according to their lawyer.

The Vancouver Sun contacted RBC’s Toronto-based office on Thursday afternoon, but did not get a reply by deadline.

In April, the home named in the claim at 10191 Thirlmere Dr. in Richmond was sold to a different buyer, Yu Lan Zhao, according to land title documents. According to information on the MLS, it was listed and sold by Yang.

Yang was part of a group of former agents at New Coast Realty who, in March, alleged the company had not paid them commission fees for residential transactions they completed months ago. At the time, Yang estimated New Coast owed her around $200,000 in commission fees.

New Coast has been under investigation by the Real Estate Council of B.C. for alleged highpressure sales tactics, but nearly six months later, there has been no update. Several agents from New Coast have moved to Metro Edge.