A South Asian ex-realtor is facing 17 mortgage fraud charges after a criminal investigation into his conduct. Kamanashis Deb, a so-called former award-winning real estate agent with deep ties in the city’s business community, was charged after a two-year investigation that involved multiple financial institutions. One of the lenders affected by the alleged fraud, Affinity Credit Union, said it involved people coming in with fake employment letters to inflate their income to qualify for mortgages.

By DESIBUZZCanada Staff With News Files

SASKATOON – A South Asian ex-realtor is facing 17 mortgage fraud charges after a criminal investigation into his conduct.

Kamanashis Deb, a so-called former award-winning real estate agent with deep ties in the city’s business community, was charged after a two-year investigation that involved multiple financial institutions. One of the lenders affected by the alleged fraud, Affinity Credit Union, said it involved people coming in with fake employment letters to inflate their income to qualify for mortgages, reported CBC News.

The allegations have not yet been tested in court. Deb’s co-accused Debashis Deb is facing two charges of fraud. It is not known whether the two men are related.

The investigation began on March 1, 2021, when the Saskatoon Police Service received a report of “falsified banking documents that were submitted with several mortgage applications at a Saskatoon banking institution,” according to a police news release, which did not identify that institution.

The documents were traced back to mortgages submitted by two Saskatoon realtors, police said.

Eight applications using false documents were discovered at a single financial institution, according to police.

An investigation by the police service’s economic crime section led to police executing multiple search warrants and seizing more fraudulent documents connected to mortgage applications at several other financial institutions.

Deb, 42, was charged with 17 counts of fraud this week. He is scheduled to be in court next month.

Deb’s co-accused, a 36-year-old Debashis Deb was charged with two counts of fraud in January.

Deb worked at the Royal LePage Varsity office for a decade, earning the company’s national award of excellence in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Deb’s social media is filled with photos of his professional awards. It also features selfies taken at public events with various luminaries, including Premier Scott Moe and federal Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre.

A spokesperson for Royal LePage said Deb is no longer with the company. She declined to answer questions about him.

The Saskatchewan Realtors Association said Deb has not been a member since Dec. 14, 2022.

Deb cut a wide swath through the business community, according to a biography he released when running for a board position with the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce. At that time, he said that he was on the Chamber’s advocacy committee.

Chamber chief executive officer Jason Aebig said in an email to CBC that Deb ran unsuccessfully three times for a board position, and “expressed an interest in our Advocacy Committee, but chose not to attend or actively participate.”

Deb served on the Saskatoon’s municipal heritage advisory committee as a board member, and as director of the Canada-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce.

He also served on the executive of the Bangladesh Community Association of Saskatchewan, including two years as president.

“Since arriving in Saskatoon in 2008 with just $20 in my pocket, I’ve become an experienced entrepreneur,” he wrote in his campaign literature.

Courtesy CBC News