Ontario’s Serious Fraud Office struggles to keep pace as scams grow more complex
Fraud victims reported $544 million in losses in the first nine months of 2025. Ontario’s SFO says growing volume and cyber-enabled schemes are outpacing current resources.
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By Torontoer Staff
Fraud victims reported $544 million in losses to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre in the first nine months of 2025, putting the country on track to exceed the $645 million recorded for all of 2024. Ontario’s Serious Fraud Office, created to prosecute complex financial crime, says the volume and sophistication of scams, especially cyber-enabled schemes, are overwhelming investigative capacity.
The federal budget has prioritised a national anti-fraud strategy and private-sector groups have launched voluntary coalitions aimed at tackling scams. The measures respond to what investigators describe as a sustained rise in reports and a likelihood that official figures capture only a small fraction of total losses.
Integrated model created to address complex financial crime
Ontario established the Serious Fraud Office after a confidential 2015 review by former Ontario Court of Appeal justice Stephen Goudge recommended a different approach to high-end economic crime. The SFO places police investigators and specialised Crown prosecutors together, with prosecutors providing legal guidance from the outset of an investigation.
Investigators say the model helps preserve evidence, shape interview strategies and assemble search warrants efficiently. That early coordination also reduces the risk that a case will be derailed by the strict timelines imposed by the Supreme Court’s R. v. Jordan ruling, which limits trial delays to 18 months in provincial courts and 30 months in superior courts.
The intake that we receive, it’s increasing all the time. We can’t keep up with it, especially the cyber-enabled fraud incidents right now.
Ontario Provincial Police Superintendent Jennifer Spurrell
Casework illustrates international and technical challenges
The SFO points to the case of Charles DeBono, arrested in September 2020 after investigators traced an international Ponzi scheme to accounts and assets moved abroad. DeBono, who operated under the alias 'Brian Coneybeare', ran a scheme that promised investors returns from point-of-sale debit terminals. Court documents show the terminals were largely fictitious and pay-outs were funded with deposits from new investors.
The scheme ran for about five years, collected an estimated $40 million to $48 million and affected more than 500 investors. When payments stopped, reports came to nine different municipal police services. Investigators centralised the matter under the SFO after identifying gaps in information sharing and the need for coordinated international cooperation, including with Interpol and Caribbean partners.
We needed to centralize the investigation, information was falling through the cracks.
Detective Staff Sergeant Nicole Hanks
DeBono pleaded guilty to one count of fraud over $5,000 and one count of money laundering. He received a seven-year sentence, with credit for time served; he is now on parole and faces a court-ordered obligation to repay about $26.9 million within five years or serve additional time.
Capacity, coordination and the private sector
The SFO reported that it opened five new investigations and laid charges against 24 people on 93 offences in 2024, the latest year for which consolidated statistics are available. Authorities caution that official reporting likely represents only 5 to 10 per cent of fraud incidents, leaving the true scale of losses unclear.
Legal experts say the SFO’s integrated model is an important step but that broader partnerships are necessary. Coordination with telecoms, banks and internet service providers can accelerate disruption of fraud networks and improve evidence collection, experts argue.
I think it’s terrific that Crowns and police are co-ordinating, and I wonder if there’s room for some way to co-ordinate as well with telecoms and banks and internet service providers.
Cristie Ford, professor, Peter A. Allard School of Law, UBC
- Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre reported $544 million in losses in the first nine months of 2025
- SFO opened five investigations and charged 24 people with 93 offences in 2024
- Notable SFO outcomes include convictions tied to a multimillion-dollar hospital redevelopment and the DeBono Ponzi scheme
- Federal budget includes a plan for a national anti-fraud strategy; private-sector coalitions have formed
What investigators say is needed next
Investigators and legal specialists call for increased resources for integrated teams, enhanced data sharing with the private sector and stronger international co-operation. They say those steps would improve the odds of disrupting schemes earlier, returning assets to victims and meeting court deadlines.
The DeBono prosecution demonstrates that the SFO model can produce results in complex, cross-border cases. Officials caution, however, that the rising volume of cyber-enabled fraud and the limited visibility into the true scale of losses mean the office will need sustained support to keep pace.
fraudSerious Fraud OfficeOntario Provincial Policefinancial crimescams
