Authorities have apprehended two more individuals in connection with a sprawling fraud and money laundering operation, with a third suspect still at large. This scheme, which has already resulted in the arrests of twelve individuals and over $4 million in losses, targeted the fraudulent acquisition of mortgages for residential properties in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) to facilitate money laundering.
The trio is accused of orchestrating a synthetic-identity fraud scheme, a type of financial deception that involves stealing a real person’s information, like their Social Insurance Number or date of birth, and combining it with false details to create a new identity for illicit purposes. Despite the challenging nature of detecting this type of fraud through conventional monitoring systems, authorities were tipped off in October 2022 by a financial institution that identified multiple synthetic accounts, mostly linked to an individual who had former ties to the company.
Since launching their investigation into the scheme dating back to 2016, law enforcement has uncovered over 680 distinct synthetic identities, many of which were utilized to open numerous bank and credit accounts at various financial institutions across Ontario.
In April 2024, a major breakthrough occurred when police arrested a dozen individuals and laid over 100 charges in what has been dubbed Operation Deja Vu. Fast forward to December 4, 2025, and two more suspects, 55-year-old Misbah Akram and 28-year-old Saqlain Akram, both from Brampton, have been charged in relation to the scheme, collectively facing ten fraud-related charges.
The hunt continues for a third suspect, 59-year-old Muhammad Akram, also known as Chaudry Akram, who is wanted on four fraud-related charges. Authorities urge anyone with information on his whereabouts to come forward.
Given the complexity and scale of the operation, investigators suspect additional incidents and victims. They are appealing to businesses that may have been targeted by the arrested individuals to come forward and assist in the ongoing inquiry.