Toronto police say they have charged 25 people after GTA financial institutions were bilked out of nearly $8 million in a loan fraud scam.

At a news conference Monday, investigators said the suspects set up shell companies to obtain loans from banks, private lenders and other financial institutions, and then laundered the money between March 2011 and October 2012.

Police said the suspects produced large amounts of fraudulent documentation and records, had false liens registered and impersonated legitimate accountants in the GTA as they passed off buildings and equipment belonging to legitimate businesses as property of the shell company.

The suspects range in age from 26 to 75, and most are from the GTA.

Police believe there may be additional victims who haven’t been identified, so they released photos of some of the suspects Monday.

Investigators want to speak to anyone who received credit applications or financial documents involving the following businesses:

  • Omnium Financial Group at 70 Silton Rd. in Woodbridge
  • Yorkshire Capital at 8481 Keele St. in Concord
  • A crown moulding company located at 4 Racine Rd. in Toronto (operated as Creative Crown Moulding, Creative Custom Moulding, Colonial Crown Moulding and Canadian Crown Moulding)
  • A millwork/cabinetry company located at 6150 Ordan Dr. in Mississauga (operated as Vintage Custom Millwork, Vintage Architectural Millwork, Vintage Millwork, Vertex Millwork and Apex Millwork)
  • A printing company located at 731 Millway Ave. in Vaughan (operated as Insignia Print Group and Proview Print Group)
  • A machining company at 2080 Steeles Ave. E. in Brampton (operated as Matrix Machining & Tooling)
  • A granite and stone fabrication company located at 450 Limestone Cres. in Toronto (operated as Global Granite)
  • A woodworking company located at 1760 Meyerside Dr. in Mississauga (operated as Shankar Woodcrafts)

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 416-808-4270 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).

@ChrisKitching is on Twitter. For instant breaking news, follow @CP24 on Twitter.