A high-profile law firm has filed a defence against what it calls “unwarranted” action from the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) to revoke the licences of four Save Max real estate brokerages on allegations that millions of dollars in trust fund money were misappropriated.
On Feb. 13, lawyer Marie Henein, partner with Henein Hutchison Robitaille LLP, filed a notice of appeal at the Licence Appeal Tribunal challenging RECO’s proposals to revoke the licences of four Save Max brokerages connected to the owners and brokers of record Raman Dua and Nidhi Dua. The filing offers new details into the allegations against the Duas and Save Max, some of which differ from those RECO has provided in public statements.
“It is well known that RECO failed in its regulatory obligations in handling the iPro Realty trust fund misappropriation scandal. Save Max is not iPro. Nor is this an opportunity for RECO to rehabilitate its reputation as a competent regulator,” reads a press release from Henein Hutchison Robitaille LLP that accompanied the filing. “Jobs and people’s homes hang in the balance. These allegations, together with RECO’s disproportionate action, have caused serious harm to Save Max’s business, agents, brokers and clients.”
In August, 2025, RECO announced that iPro Realty Ltd. had reported a $10.5-million trust account shortfall, which resulted in the collapse of that brokerage, the dispersal of its 2,400 realtors and almost $30-million in insurance claims related to hundreds of transactions.
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Ms. Henein has established a track record of high-profile defences for such clients as former vice-chief of the defence staff of Canada vice-admiral Mark Norman, former CBC host Jian Ghomeshi and former Ontario attorney-general Michael Bryant.
On Feb. 3, RECO published a bulletin that said it was acting on a tip from December, 2024, that resulted in investigations of 20 Save Max brokerages. On Jan. 15, 2026, RECO received a final third-party forensic review of the matter and has alleged 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 – amounting to $2.7-million. The money was said to have been used to cover operating expenses 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 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.”
In a filing accompanying the appeal, the law firm claimed the inspections turned up only “minor discrepancies” that were “identified and rectified.” It also claimed the $2.7-million funds were accounted for and the trusts were not depleted at the time of suspension.
“The trust disbursements at issue were caused by administrative accounting errors, in some cases, a bank error acknowledged in writing by the bank and reversed within 24 to 48 hours or upon discovery during the monthly reconciliation. Indeed, the two largest impugned transfers were identified almost immediately and reversed within 24 hours,” the filing stated.
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The filing claims a $700,000 disbursement from a trust account was reversed within a day, a $400,000 transfer was reversed within minutes, another $200,000 transfer was reversed in the same day. In one case, it said the Royal Bank of Canada moved $120,000 from the wrong account, which was reversed within eight days with a letter of explanation from the bank.
“Mr. and Ms. Dua did not direct, cause, or facilitate the unauthorized disbursements. Neither were they aware at the time that these transactions had taken place,” according to the filing, which also identifies what it said are errors in RECO’s allegations, where dates appear confused, or a record of a transfer doesn’t appear to exist.
The defence said some of the “incorrect disbursements” came prior to Dec. 1, 2023, when RECO began requiring immediate reporting of any trust account shortages. It also claims the four brokerages had enough money to pay for operating expenses at the relevant times.
After the suspensions, acting CEO and RECO administrator Jean Lépine issued a statement underlining the issue for the regulator. “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.”
The defence filing suggests RECO’s actions have impacted personal finances of some of the parties. “Financial institutions have taken adverse action in response to the decisions, including the withdrawal of commercial and personal mortgage facilities.”
It also fills in some background on the businesses, stating the main brokerage, Save Max Real Estate Inc., was registered in 2010 and has been inspected seven times, but never suspended until now. Save Max was the sole shareholder of the other three suspended brokerages, which, according to RECO’s registry, together had just more than 400 realtors associated with them before the suspensions. Currently, fewer than 200 realtors remain registered with the brokerages.
The filing also alleged the RECO actions hurt the broader network of the Save Max International franchise operation, which has dozens of brokerages across Ontario. It claimed that some brokerages have refused to co-operate with Save Max realtors on transactions and that 400 have left the network, down from the 1,100 realtors that it had before the suspensions.