Former Saskatoon agent fined $75,000, barred for 5 years after misappropriating client deposits

A former Saskatoon real estate agent has been fined $75,000 after admitting to accepting more than $38,000 in client deposit funds and failing to pay them into his brokerage.

According to a June 25 decision, a Saskatchewan Real Estate Commission hearing committee found Kevin Tran “intentionally instructed three separate clients to send their deposits by e-transfer to his personal bank account” before misappropriating the funds.

Tran admitted to three counts of professional misconduct under The Real Estate Act. The committee reprimanded Tran, formerly a salesperson with Boyes Group Realty Inc., with three separate $25,000 fines and ordered him to pay $10,505.25 in restitution to one buyer. 

Tran’s registration has already been terminated by his broker, reads the decision. The committee barred Tran from reapplying for registration for five years

“Based on the severity of Mr. Tran’s conduct, the maximum sanctions are warranted,” the decision says.

Deposits sent to personal account

According to the hearing committee’s decision, Tran instructed three separate clients to send deposit funds by e-transfer to his personal bank account rather than to his brokerage’s trust account.

The committee found Tran intentionally directed the clients to send more than $38,000 to his personal account, then ceased communicating with the clients.

The incidents involved two residential purchase transactions and a commercial lease that later evolved into a purchase transaction, spanning from the summer of 2025 through the spring of 2026.

Three buyers affected

The first case involved a buyer who, on Tran’s instructions, made a series of e-transfers totalling $18,000 between December 2025 and March 2026 after being told the money would be applied toward the deposit on a home purchase.

Tran later instructed the buyer to provide a separate $15,000 bank draft directly to Boyes Group Realty Inc., saying the earlier transfers would be returned. He stopped communicating before the property’s possession date, and members of his family later repaid the buyer the full $18,000.

In the second case, a buyer sent three e-transfers totalling $10,000 to Tran’s personal bank account after he instructed her to do so in connection with a residential purchase offer.

After the seller declined the offer, Tran advised the buyer the deposit would be returned within five days before he stopped communicating. The buyer later contacted broker Jordan Boyes seeking repayment, and Tran’s mother ultimately delivered a cheque for the full amount.

The third matter involved prospective tenants seeking commercial space in the city of Warman, Sask. Beginning in August 2025, the committee found Tran repeatedly instructed the clients to send deposit funds and additional months’ rent by e-transfer to his personal bank account, collecting a total of $10,505.25.

When the clients later decided not to proceed with a subsequent property purchase and requested their money back, the committee said Tran repeatedly promised repayment before eventually stopping communication altogether. 

Committee cites serious breach of trust

In determining the penalty, the hearing committee said Tran had no previous disciplinary history, which it considered a mitigating factor. It also noted that Tran’s family had repaid two of the three affected clients amounts equal to the missing deposits.

Those factors, however, were outweighed by the seriousness of the misconduct, the committee said. The committee concluded the sanctions were appropriate after considering the need to protect the public and uphold confidence in the real estate profession.

“If purchasers cannot proceed with confidence that the deposits they deliver to brokerages and their registrants will be credited to the purchase price or returned to the purchaser if the transaction does not proceed, there will be a chilling effect upon the real estate industry,” the decision says.

“This would be significantly harmful to the public.”

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