The B.C. Financial Services Authority has taken away the licence of a realtor for misconduct.

This came after Luis Eduardo Ayala Gomez, a.k.a. Luis Ayala, admitted a number of wrongdoings in connection with five real-estate deals.

Ayala also confessed that he misled the investigation by making “false or misleading statements”.

The realtor likewise “deleted or destroyed records related to one or more” of the transactions.

As Ayala related in his submission, the deals happened between 2016 and 2017.

In those transactions, Ayala allowed his name to be used as the agent of buyers for listings by another realtor identified only as A. Xxxxx.

The understanding was made “even though A. Xxxxx was to provide all services to both the buyers and the sellers”.

“The purpose of this arrangement was to increase the amount of commission that would otherwise be payable on the sale of the properties by involving a buyer’s brokerage in the real estate transactions,” related the document prepared by Ayala.

The realtor was “aware of this purpose and agreed to participate”.

“In exchange for allowing A. Xxxxx to use his name as the buyer’s agent, L. Ayala would receive a portion of the buyer’s agent commission and L. Ayala would give A. Xxxxx most of the buyer’s agent commission on each transaction,” the document recalled.

Moreover, in two of the five real estate transactions, A. Xxxxx and Ayala “facilitated the use of a nominee purchaser to tie the property up and then immediately assign the contracts of purchase and sale to a third‐party purchaser for a higher purchase price”.

“The purpose of this arrangement was to generate profit from the higher sale price of the assignment of the property to the exclusion of the original seller of the property,” the document stated.

When Ayala was interviewed by an investigator with the then Real Estate Council of B.C., he “essentially denied any misconduct and gave an exculpatory version of events that was untrue”.

The realtor eventually acknowledged that he had "not been entirely truthful".

“L. Ayala further admitted that he had destroyed documents relating to the transactions to frustrate the Council’s investigation, and that prior to his first interview with the Council, he met with A. Xxxxx and CD to ensure that their statements to the Council would be consistent,” the document related. [CD is an associate of the two realtors.]

Ayala was with Sutton Group-West Coast Realty and Metro Edge Realty when the deals were done.

He is prohibited from applying for a new licence for two years.