RAKOCEVIC: Justice for RECO fraud victims is welcome news, but overdue

QUEEN’S PARK — Ontario NDP Shadow Minister for Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement Tom Rakocevic (Humber River—Black Creek) has issued the following statement, after the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) committed to full financial restitution for realtors defrauded by the collapse of iPro Realty:

“It is welcome news that the victims of the largest scandal in the history of Ontario’s real estate sector are finally set to receive 100 per cent of the money taken from them. I commend them for their resilience in pursuing restitution, despite having to fight for over half a year.

“On a long list of regulatory failures by the Ford government, this ranks near the top. RECO failed to uphold their responsibility to protect realtors from a scam such as this, and the Conservatives failed to provide the necessary oversight.

“I’m glad to hear that the affected realtors will recover their lost funds, but this should never have happened in the first place, and RECO is far from being fixed. You can’t have a trust fund without trust. Ontarians need a government that will be proactive, rather than waiting for the crisis to happen and scrambling to respond.”