On Thursday morning, hundreds of employees at iPro Realty signed on to a “special meeting” over Zoom announcing the “evolution” of the GTA brokerage.
On the call, Rui Alves, iPro Realty’s co-founder, led staff through a 20-page slide show presentation, which the Star has since reviewed. It said iPro Reality had been sold to a “wealthy private financier,” with the brokerage being “rebranded” as iCloud Realty.
But Alves’ presentation failed to mention a critical detail.
The company he founded with Fedele Colucci wasn’t being sold. The Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) was forcing iPro Realty to shut down by Aug. 19 in the wake of an audit, which found $10 million missing from the company’s consumer deposit and commission trust accounts. RECO has since revised the amount missing to $8 million, but provided no reason for the change.
Colucci was not present at the meeting, which wasn’t unusual, according to one of the company’s senior managers and brokers who said Alves typically led presentations “because he’s the more charismatic one.” Neither Alves nor Colucci responded to the Star’s request for an interview by the time of publication.
Before the Zoom call ended, sources told the Star that news of RECO’s announcement about iPro’s demise had leaked.
The regulator issued a news release announcing it had finalized an undertaking with iPro Realty that will see the windup and closure of the Mississauga-based brokerage and all of its 17 branches. RECO later advised that a new real estate brokerage called iCloud will absorb iPro agents and their clients. The news left many staff confused and worried.
“This is just a fancy way of shuffling things around and putting a new name on it,” one longtime employee told the Star. (The Star granted three iPro employees anonymity, as they feared they might lose their jobs for speaking publicly.)
“The admin team is staying the same, the offices are staying open.”
RECO said it has been in contact with Peel Regional Police, and will co-operate with any investigation.
Peel police public information officer Const. Tyler Bell-Morena said he can’t confirm whether the force is investigating or whether it has laid any charges.
“Our office is closed because of staffing constraints,” he said.
Joseph Richer, RECO’s registrar, told the Star that iCloud is registered as a separate brokerage with different owners from iPro listed on the registration, but said it has purchased some of iPro’s assets and assumed some of its leases.
On the Zoom call, though, Alves assured staff that he and Colucci would continue to work with the new company.
“They said they will help with the transition because the new owner is an investor and doesn’t know the industry,” said Ryan Green, a broker and branch manager based in Georgetown.
Business records show that iCloud Realty’s registered director is Joan Terry, and that the service address for iCloud is 1396 Don Mills Road, which is the same address as one of iPro Realty’s offices.
When the Star reached out to Terry about her new position at iCloud, she said “no comment” and “thank you” before hanging up the phone.
Green added that “the Zoom meeting was all about them selling the brokerage to this investor, someone with a lot of money, who will make things better and change the world in real estate.” Alves told staff he and Colucci were “semi-retiring.”
RECO’s Richer did not respond directly to a question about whether the iPro founders are involved with iCloud, but did say they have been stripped of their licenses.
“They are no longer eligible to trade in real estate when the brokerage is closed, nor can they reapply for registration in the future,” he said.
There are other indicators that iCloud will continue the work being performed by a brokerage shut down for “a serious breach of iPro’s responsibilities under the law,” according to a press release sent out by RECO.
According to Alves’s slide show, all of the phone numbers at iCloud, which began operations on Friday, will remain the same as the numbers at iPro, as will all 17 locations of the brokerage.
The iCloud Realty website is identical to iPro Realty’s website, except for a new iCloud logo. Some web pages click through to the former iPro Realty site.
The similarities between the two companies have sparked anger among some former iPro agents who feel they’ve been caught up in a situation over which they have no control.
“I was so mad, it made me so angry,” one former iPro real estate agent told the Star.
“I was like, are you kidding me? The whole presentation of iCloud made no mention of the RECO advisory notice … All of us are scrambling … and it makes me so upset, I work really hard.”
The real estate agent said they will have to transfer to iCloud Realty as they have been given little time to look for another brokerage.
Agents were told by iPro that if they do not wish to transfer to iCloud Realty, they must resign before noon on Aug. 18, as they will be charged a $50 transfer fee if resigning after that date.
“We were told we’re being sold because of tough times and (lower) sales. It was not a ‘Hey, RECO forced us to shut down’ meeting,” said Green.
Then there’s the question of the unnamed investor — and where the missing $8 million went.
The Star asked RECO whether fraud was committed, and whether any charges will be laid, but it did not respond to the questions.
Toronto police and Ontario Provincial Police told the Star they’re not aware of any ongoing investigations or any requests to investigate financial mismanagement at iPro Realty.
RCMP said it cannot “confirm, deny or release information relating to criminal investigations until charges are laid” but noted matters in Ontario are generally out of its jurisdiction.
RECO did confirm that the interim broker of record at iCloud Realty is Chris Regimbal, which Regimbal’s Realtor.ca profile confirms.
Regimbal was also named as iCloud’s new broker of record in the slide show presented by Alves at the Zoom meeting. According to the slide show, he joined iPro Realty in 2013 and “brings a wealth of knowledge to this new role as broker of record.” (The Star reached out to Regimbal but did not get a response by time of publication.)
RECO’s Richer said there is no evidence that the new broker of record for iCloud had “any involvement in the misappropriation of iPro trust monies.”
“As broker of record, he will be responsible and accountable for the operation of the brokerage in compliance with the law,” he said. “iPro agents are under no obligation to transfer to iCloud; they can choose to transfer to any registered brokerage.”
It’s unclear who is backing iCloud.
“All of the sudden, this mysterious buyer comes into question, and it’s super secretive, no one knows who it is,” the longtime employee said.
“The announcement said this new owner won’t be part of the day-to-day operations, they’re just providing money.”
RECO hasn’t confirmed the number of consumers or agents whose deposits or commissions are affected, and they don’t know the number of active transactions.
There are approximately 2,400 agents employed by iPro, operating out of locations across the GTA including Toronto, North York, Burlington, Scarborough, Brampton, Brantford and Pickering.
Green said he does not endorse or support iCloud Realty but it does give realtors a solution to continue servicing clients while searching for the best brokerage.
“My clients protection takes priority over me, and we will be searching and researching where the best place for us is,” he said.
