KEY POINTS:
One of real estate firm Barfoot & Thompson's top agents has been banned from the business for two years and fined $750 for forgery and mortgage fraud.
The penalty is the maximum the Real Estate Agents Licensing Board can impose under the Real Estate Agents Act.
But Sheng Liu, also known as Victor Liu, was also ordered to pay costs of $22,500.
Associate Justice Minister Clayton Cosgrove has criticised the low penalties allowed by the act, and is about to overhaul the industry.
Liu appeared before the licensing board, which found he had falsified a tenancy agreement submitted to Wizard Home Loans.
Last year, Liu was on Barfoot's list of its top 25 agents when he worked at the firm's Onehunga office.
The board found that a tenancy agreement Liu submitted in support of a home loan application was intended to deceive Wizard about a person's financial position so the person met Wizard's lending criteria.
He had submitted the agreement without the knowledge of the person involved.
Liu denied the allegations of forgery and fraud.
"Mr Liu was primarily motivated by his own greed and determination to achieve a sale and obtain a commission rather than by any altruistic desire to assist," the board said.
Barfoot director Peter Thompson said the case was unrelated to a larger mortgage fraud revealed a few weeks ago.
Liu said he was no longer working as a real estate agent.
