Four Save Max real estate brokerages in Ontario have been suspended from conducting transactions and had their bank accounts frozen after it was discovered that $2.7-million in trust funds had been misappropriated.
The Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) announced Tuesday that it was suspending the four brokerages and also two brokers of record – Raman Dua and Nidhi Dua – and would seek to have their licences to transact real estate revoked. Peel Regional Police have also been notified of the breaches.
The Duas did not respond to requests for comment.
The moves mark a contrast to the case of iPro Realty Ltd., when RECO learned that $10.5-million was missing from brokerage trust accounts in May, 2025. This information was withheld from the public until August while a deal was worked out that would shield iPro founders from disciplinary action and transfer almost 2,400 realtors to a new brokerage.
After public outcry, iPro’s bank accounts were ultimately frozen, affecting hundreds of homebuyers and realtors, and resulting in the single largest claim event – close to $30-million – in the 25-year history of RECO’s insurance program.
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The handling of that matter resulted in major changes at RECO. These included the “exiting” of the long-time head of enforcement, registrar Joseph Richer, and ultimately the replacement of the regulator’s board and chief executive by Jean Lépine. He took over on Dec. 1 via an extraordinary provincial government appointment to the role of administrator.
According to a statement published by RECO, it received a tip about Save Max in December, 2024, and then investigated 20 Save Max brokerages. On Jan. 15, 2026, it received a final third-party forensic review of the four that were suspended.
RECO alleges that on multiple occasions money was unlawfully removed from trust bank accounts – which are required by law to be used only for consumer deposits and realtor commission payments. According to the allegations, they were used to pay operating expenses of the brokerage such as “loan payments, property management fees, taxes, credit-card balances and vendor services.”
While RECO alleges that the money was “typically replaced” before the month end in order to complete a reconciliation of the trusts, the use of these funds for anything other than the purpose of transactions is “demonstrating clear and repeated breaches of [The Trust in Real Estate Services Act] TRESA.”
A statement released on Wednesday by Mr. Lépine underlined that the law is unequivocal: “Money held in real estate trust accounts does not belong to brokerages. It cannot be used, temporarily or otherwise, for operating expenses, cash-flow management, or any purpose outside what the law expressly permits.”
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After iPro, RECO has faced pressure to find solutions to police the relatively weak protections around trust accounts, which often require only a single signature to access and often contain more money than the current $4-million that’s insurable in the event of a breach.
“RECO better wake up,” said Desmond Brown, veteran realtor with RE/MAX Hallmark. “With the change in the market, I’m wondering how many brokerages are having trouble with their cash flow and are using the trust account as a piggy bank?”
Mr. Brown argues that RECO needs to take a more pro-active approach, instead of relying on complaints, and audit more companies that have financial profiles that might make them vulnerable to cash crunches, such as brokerages with low-fee business models coupled with significant overhead costs for things like multiple office locations.
“We have so many brokerages out there that are strong and they live and work within the rules. It’s a few who are giving the industry a bad name,” Mr. Brown said.
Realtors at the four brokerages – Save Max Real Estate Inc., Save Max First Choice Real Estate Inc., Save Max Ace Real Estate and Save Max Supreme Real Estate Inc. – say Mr. Dua held a video conference on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. to reassure them that his businesses would recover.
Mohit Goraya runs a sales team at Mr. Dua’s brokerage, and over eight years working with him, he says he has never run into any issues around payments; he got his last commission cheque just last week.
“They are not short of any funds or anything, they have funds in brokerage trust accounts,” Mr. Goraya said. “People are shoulder to shoulder with Mr. Dua, we never have challenges with this man; he’s always been a hardworking person.”
Nevertheless, he is still preparing to move his sales team to another Save Max franchise in the province.