A funeral was held in Richmond Hill on Monday for lawyer Javad Heydary, one day before he was scheduled to be sentenced for defying a court order to repay $2.1 million his firm was holding in trust for a Mississauga couple.

The Law Society of Upper Canada, which seized control of Heydary’s practice on Nov. 25, is awaiting confirmation of his death, spokesman Roy Thomas said.

Thomas declined to comment on the date and time of the reported death. Heydary, 49, is believed to have fled to his native Iran in mid-November amid allegations that more than $3 million in trust funds was missing.

In an email obtained by the Star, Margaret Cowtan, a manager in the Law Society’s trustee services department, said that Heydary’s body was repatriated on Friday.

“Arrangements have been made to have an independent (third) party view and I.D. the body before interment,” Cowtan said. “The Law Society will also be seeking further official documentation confirming his death.”

Cowtan said she did not anticipate receiving that confirmation in time for the court hearing on Tuesday morning, but she added that “it would appear any sentencing for personal contempt is now moot.”

Heydary, who spearheaded a high-profile lawsuit last year on behalf of investors in the Trump International Hotel & Tower, was found in contempt of court on Nov. 29, along with his commercial litigation firm, Heydary Hamilton Professional Corporation. He was not present for the hearing.

A source previously told the Star that Heydary’s wife, Marjan, visited his downtown Toronto offices on Nov. 21 and told his associates that her husband was dead. That information was also relayed to the Law Society, court documents show.

The program that was distributed at the Elgin Mills Cemetery on Monday afternoon, however, states that Heydary died on Nov. 24.

It included a translation of a poem by the 13th century Persian writer Rumi, whose verses contemplate the “eternal love” arrived at in death, and urge mourners to “remember a grave is only a curtain for the paradise behind.”

A few dozen men, women and children gathered for the ceremony and interment. Some clutched flowers as they walked slowly behind the hearse carrying the casket.

An easel in the lobby of the visitation centre displayed a photo of a smiling Heydary, wearing a dark suit and a scarf, the same image that is on his company website.

The lawyer representing the Mississauga couple who entrusted $3.6 million in settlement funds to Heydary Hamilton in April, said he is awaiting “independent confirmation” that Heydary’s body was repatriated on Friday.

“We don’t have any unequivocal, independent confirmation that he is in fact dead,” Ray Thapar said.

But whatever the outcome, Thapar stressed that he will continue to attempt to retrieve his clients’ funds.

“It doesn’t stop my clients’ right to trace the monies,” he said. “We are not going to stop our pursuit. This is just an absolute huge loss for our clients and we have to look to every source of recovery.”

Before Heydary’s disappearance, the Mississauga couple, Hasan and Samira Abuzour, had tried for months to prompt him to release their money, which was awarded through the breakup of a printing partnership.

In assuming trusteeship over Heydary’s practice, which includes five boutique firms in the heart of Toronto’s financial district, the law society said Heydary was under investigation for alleged “misappropriation” and “mishandling trust funds.”

According to court documents, the balance of Heydary Hamilton’s mixed trust account was $319,067 as of Nov. 21. Heydary was the only person authorized to withdraw funds, the documents state.

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The law society is still in the midst of an audit of the financial records of Heydary’s firms, Thapar said.

Calls to Heydary’s downtown Toronto offices were not returned on Monday.

Heydary Hamilton was left without legal representation on Nov. 29, when the court granted a request from Shillers LLP to withdraw as counsel of record. Thapar said he is not aware of whether the firm has found a replacement.

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