A Kitchener husband and wife stand accused of stealing more than $21 million from at least 160 people.

Vincent Ciccone, 64, and Karen Thomson-Ciccone, 60, face criminal fraud charges in connection with an alleged investment scam.

RCMP say they received several complaints from investors in the Ciccone Group of Companies in December 2010.

“The enticement of this scheme was a 20 to 30 per cent return on investment – which, if you ask any license investor or anybody who’s educated in the field, is quite unrealistic,” Insp. Todd Gilmore told reporters Wednesday.

According to the RCMP, investors – some of whom were recruited from church congregations – were told their money would be invested in day-trading or real estate.

Instead, the money was allegedly spent on the salaries of Ciccone Group staff and other non-investment matters.

“This is a typical Ponzi scheme where money from new investors was used to pay old investors,” said Gilmore.

“Eventually, you run out of investors.”

Both accused made brief court appearances Wednesday and remain in custody pending further appearances Thursday.

They are each charged with fraud over $5,000, which carries a maximum sentence upon conviction of 14 years in prison.

RCMP say most of the victims live in Ontario or Alberta, and some of the alleged fraud dates as far back as 2006.

“Victims invested their retirement savings. They re-mortgaged free properties. Pensions were lost,” said Gilmore.

The Ciccone Group of Companies and Ciccone personally have both declared bankruptcy, Gilmore said, which makes it unlikely the alleged victims could receive any of their losses back.

Ciccone had previously been banned from trading securities, stemming from his time at the head of the Medra Corporation.

The Ontario Securities Commission found that Medra had committed financial fraud.

In a settlement reached in 2013, Ciccone was ordered to pay the OSC $15 million, as well as a $750,000 penalty for bilking investors out of $19 million between 2008 and 2010.

Ciccone and Thomson-Ciccone are the founders of Trinity Global Support Solutions – a company for which Joe Fontana, the current mayor of London, Ont., is a past CEO and board chair.

Once a registered charity, Trinity Global had that status revoked in 2013 after the Canada Revenue Agency deemed it a tax shelter.

Gilmore said he was not aware of any connection between Trinity Global and this specific investigation.

No further arrests are anticipated.

With files from CTV London