Ontario regulator issues enforcement action in latest crackdown
Ontario’s financial services watchdog has moved to clamp down on alleged off‑book mortgage activity linked to a vulnerable senior, in a case that puts broker supervision and unlicensed dealing back under the spotlight.
In a notice of proposal dated March 12, 2026, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) has set out plans to refuse the licence renewal of mortgage agent Mohsen Molsen Hanasavha and to impose a compliance order on former agent Ali Kiani Nejad, alongside proposed administrative penalties of $20,000 and $12,000 respectively.
The allegations have not been proven, and both men have requested hearings before the Financial Services Tribunal.
According to FSRA, between February and May 2023 the pair “dealt in mortgages with respect to a $234,000 mortgage for DB” from a private lender, secured against the retired homeowner’s property.
FSRA alleged that DB was “a retired and vulnerable senior citizen” who ultimately defaulted on the one‑year, 10%‑interest loan and received a notice of sale, with litigation over the property still under way.
The regulator said Hanasavha opened a file at his brokerage, created a mortgage application in which he was listed as agent, and arranged a credit report, property report and appraisal, but “never interacted with DB” and acted “without DB’s knowledge or consent.”
FSRA alleged he then passed DB’s identification and financial documents to Nejad, whose licence expired in 2020, so Nejad could seek funding from private lenders.
FSRA alleged that Hanasavha “received $27,700 as remuneration for the DB Mortgage” directly from DB’s lawyer, outside his then‑brokerage Morcan Financial Inc., retaining $15,045 and sending $5,600 to Nejad.
The director concluded that he dealt in mortgages and received fees “outside of Morcan and without its knowledge,” contrary to the Mortgage Brokerages, Lenders and Administrators Act, 2006 and Ontario Regulation 187/08.
On Nejad, FSRA said his conduct “went beyond the scope of a simple referral” because he obtained and forwarded DB’s identification, application and supporting documents to a private lender while unlicensed. That conduct, the director said, amounted to dealing in a mortgage without a licence.
The notice framed the case squarely as a test of suitability. FSRA said Hanasavha’s conduct showed “a wilful and blatant disregard for his responsibilities as a licensed mortgage broker, the regulatory regime, and for the interests of DB, causing DB significant harm.”
It also stressed that DB “did not receive the protections required under the Act, including identity verification, suitability assessment and risk and conflict disclosures.”
Broader push on fraud, suitability and vulnerable clients
FSRA pointed to Mortgage Broker Regulators’ Council of Canada guidance that mortgage brokers have a duty to act proactively to prevent and detect fraud.
In recent consultation papers and business plans, the regulator highlighted mortgage fraud and harm to vulnerable consumers, including seniors, as continuing high‑priority risks across the brokering sector, alongside a push to tighten licensing suitability tests and oversight of private and alternative lending.
The Hanasavha and Nejad case arrived amid a string of recent FSRA actions. In February, FSRA enforcement against former agent Sabine Quattrociocchi and Diamond Capital Investments over undisclosed, unlicensed mortgage activities led to $50,000 in penalties and a one‑year bar on seeking a new mortgage licence, with regulators citing repeated breaches and misleading filings.
In a separate February order, FSRA suspended Ontario mortgage agent Chanderkant Jindal after forged insurance applications and false declarations on a renewal form, stressing that misconduct involving “fraud, forgery, dishonesty or the provision of false information” weighed heavily against suitability for a mortgage licence.
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