The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) has issued an order which imposes an administrative penalty of $52,000 against Muhammad Bajwa.
According to the FSRA, Bajwa engaged in unlicensed insurance activity which violated section 392.2(6) of the Insurance Act and section 2(1) of Ontario Regulation 347/04.
A document from the regulator said that on June 10, 2019, Sonnet Insurance Company submitted a complaint to the FSRA, which alleged that Bajwa was engaged in unlicensed insurance activities. The insurer claimed that Bajwa had submitted applications online to the insurer, on behalf of his customers, but provided false rating information. Bajwa also allegedly lied about being affiliated or associated with Sonnet, when the company was not employing any brokers at that time.
It was found that Bajwa connected with customers through referrals from a dealership. In 2018, Bajwa was at the automotive dealer Access Motors, where he passed out business cards to employees. FSRA’s enforcement order said that these cards listed, among other services, that Bajwa was able to provide “cheap car insurance for bad drivers.” He introduced himself as an insurance agent, the CEO of King’s Financial Services (of which he was the sole director from its incorporation from October 2011 to July 2020), and offered to pay the dealership’s workers referral fees if it sent him customers.
Bajwa was issued a warning letter by FSRA on August 27, 2019, which asked him to provide a written confirmation that he understood that he did not have a licence as either an agent or broker. He acknowledged in a response email that he was not licensed, but was not holding himself out as an agent.
FSRA issued a summons to Bajwa on April 07, 2021, to appear for an examination under oath, but the request was accommodated. Another summons was issued on April 28, 2021, but during the examination on June 07, 2021, Bajwa did not appear.
It was also noted by the FSRA that the Financial Services Tribunal previously issued a decision to the Superintendent of Financial Services on February 28, 2019 to refuse Bajwa’s application for a licence in the regulated mortgage sector. The decision was due to false information that he provided on his licensing applications with the Services Commission of Ontario, which involved omitting his prior criminal conduct of fraud and forged documents.
In December, FSRA issued a warning to customers about unlicensed individuals selling auto insurance in the province. Said individuals would arrange meetings with clients in coffee shops in and around the Windsor area, soliciting fraudulent policies, the authority said.
