Save Max challenges RECO trust account allegations, sanctions

Mississauga-based Save Max is appealing the regulatory action recently brought on by the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO), challenging claims of trust account misuse.

Earlier this month, RECO froze the trust accounts of four Save Max brokerages after an investigation that allegedly found $2.7 million was unlawfully moved from the accounts. It also issued an immediate suspension order on the brokerages involved and Save Max’s principals, Raman and Nidhi Dua, and proposed to revoke their registration.

Now, Save Max is disputing the claims, calling the penalizations against them “unwarranted.”

RECO said the funds were misused for purposes outside the terms of the trust, including loan payments, property management fees, taxes, credit card balances and vendor services.

“This is not accurate. This did not occur,” reads a statement released Feb. 13 by Save Max’s legal representative Henein Hutchison Robitaille LLP. “Contrary to the rumours circulating about what is in Save Max’s trust accounts, no funds are missing.”

Appeal officially filed 

The Duas have taken their appeal to the Licence Appeal Tribunal of Tribunals Ontario.

In their appeal, the Duas say RECO had inspected their trust accounts between 2023 and 2025, identifying only minor documentation and procedural deficiencies, with no findings of misappropriation. 

They argue the disputed transactions were administrative errors or bank mistakes, including a $700,000 transfer reversed the next day and a $400,000 transfer reversed within minutes.

‘Devastating impact’

The Duas say RECO’s decisions have disrupted day-to-day business and created widespread uncertainty for agents, clients and consumers connected to the firms.

According to the appeal, the fallout has included a major loss of personnel, with at least 400 registered salespersons leaving brokerages within the Save Max network following the regulator’s actions. The brokerages also report that all active listings under their registrations — estimated at roughly 100 to 150 at the time — were withdrawn.

They further claim the decisions have damaged their standing within the real estate community, leading to strained professional relationships and reluctance from other brokerages to cooperate or transact with Save Max-affiliated agents.

 They also say financial institutions have responded negatively, including withdrawing commercial and personal mortgage facilities.

“The scope and severity of the harm caused by the decisions is out of proportion to the allegations advanced,” reads the appeal.  

RECO responds

In an email to Real Estate Magazine, Samantha Pinto, RECO’s chief regulatory modernization officer, said the regulator cannot comment on the specifics of the Save Max matter. 

However, she wrote, “the misuse of real estate trust account funds is a serious breach of the law and of public trust.”

“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. Conduct that undermines these obligations will not be tolerated.”

She said RECO will continue to act “decisively” in the public interest. 

Lawyer: Don’t compare Save Max to iPro

RECO is undergoing an organizational overhaul in the wake of the iPro Realty Ltd. scandal of 2025, the handling of which ultimately led the government of Ontario seize control of the regulator by way of an administrator. 

“It is well known that RECO failed in its regulatory obligations in handling the iPro Realty trust fund misappropriation scandal,” reads the statement by Henein Hutchison Robitaille LLP. “Save Max is not iPro. Nor is this an opportunity for RECO to rehabilitate its reputation as a competent regulator. Jobs and people’s homes hang in the balance.”