November 21,2025
RED FM News Desk
Two real estate brokerages with dozens of agents have had their licences suspended as part of an ongoing investigation.
On Thursday, the B.C. Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) issued an “order in urgent circumstances” suspending Lighthouse Realty Ltd. and Jovi Realty. Both companies already had their accounts frozen due to the regulator’s probe into the activities of Balpreet Singh Bal.
According to the BCFSA, the brokerages are facing “serious allegations of misconduct related to trust account management.” The order also places major restrictions on the managing brokers: Ralph Frederick Oakes at Jovi, and Colin Ross McDonald and James Robert Thiessen at Lighthouse.
“These actions mean the brokerages are no longer authorized to provide real estate services,” the BCFSA said. The regulator also issued a consumer alert offering guidance to clients of agents and property managers working under Lighthouse and Jovi.
Lighthouse and Jovi were—until recently—owned by Bal, a real estate agent who was himself subjected to an “urgent circumstances” order earlier this month. He is being investigated for alleged mishandling of trust funds, deceptive practices, poor record-keeping, and offering mortgage or investment services without proper registration. None of the allegations have been proven.
When interviewed on Nov. 4, Bal told regulators he was “no longer involved” with the companies. Corporate filings show that he became the sole director of both firms in April 2024, and stepped down from both on Nov. 4. He was replaced by Parminder Sondhi, whose listed address is the same as Jovi’s Vancouver location.
The regulator noted that this transfer of control appears to have been triggered by the earlier orders against Bal. On Nov. 8, the registered office address for both brokerages was changed to a residential property in Surrey—an address that court documents identify as Bal’s home.
Balpreet Singh Bal — the B.C. real estate agent whose licence was suspended and whose accounts were frozen earlier this month over alleged misconduct — is the sole director and CEO of a company previously owned by a Hells Angels member who was killed in 2019.
Bal’s lawyer, Jaspreet Singh Malik, says there is no evidence that his client knew the former owner was a gang member when he purchased the company, calling any suggested connection between them “pure speculation.”
Bal and companies linked to him have also been named in at least two dozen civil lawsuits over the past eight years, forming part of the context for the B.C. Financial Services Authority’s ongoing investigation.
Suminder “Allie” Grewal, the former owner, was fatally shot while waiting in a Starbucks drive-thru in Surrey on Aug. 2, 2019.
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