RCMP say two people have been arrested after 160 investors were allegedly defrauded of over $21 million.

RCMP Insp. Todd Gilmore says "This was a typical Ponzi sceme where money for new investors was used to pay off old investors and eventually you run out of investors."

Vincent Carl Ciccone, 64, and Karen Rose Thomson-Ciccone, 60, both of Kitchener, were arrested on Wednesday and charged with fraud over $5,000.

In December 2010, police launched an investigation after they received several complaints from investors in the Ciccone Group of Companies.

Kitchener RCMP have determined that from 2006 to 2010, at least 160 people invested money for day trading and property development.

Gilmore explains "The enticement of this scheme was a 20 to 30 per cent return on investment - which, if you ask any licensed investor or anybody who’s educated in the field, is quite unrealistic...None of those returns occurred.”

The funds were reportedly used not for investments, but to pay salaries and for other "non-interest paying schemes."

Gilmore says "Victims invested their retirement savings, they re-mortgaged free properties, pensions were lost...There was a lot of victims that were significantly impacted by this scam.”

Ciccone and Thomson-Ciccone, who are husband and wife, were also the founders of Trinity Global Support Solutions.

London Mayor Joe Fontana is a long-time friend of Ciccone. He was also CEO of Trinity Global for a time and past board chair.

However, the Canada Revenue Agency revoked the now non-profit's charitable status in May 2013, and called the organization a tax shelter.

Both Ciccone and the Ciccone Group of Companies have declared bankruptcy.

According to bankruptcy documents for the Ciccone Group Inc., Ciccone says of Fontana "he was an advisor, consultant" for the company.

He was also "a guest speaker at events, not specific to [investment] products," but when asked did Fontana "ever directly find people to invest?" Ciccone said "No."

The same documents show Fontana and his son are listed as creditors, owed over $20,000 and $96,000 respectively.

The RCMP would not comment on whether Fontana was investigated, but say no more arrests are expected.

Ciccone and Thomson-Ciccone appear in court on Wednesday and were remanded in custody until their next appearance on Thursday.

The maximum sentence for fraud is 14 years in prison.