Toronto man arrested in $2.5 million investment scam

Police have charged a Toronto man in connection with an alleged multi-million dollar investment scam.

York Regional Police say that they began an investigation into the matter in March, 2025 after a victim came forward.

Police say that the victim invested funds through a suspect, who owns the business Equity Line Service Corporation, in February, 2024. The victim “was promised a return on their investment” at the time but the funds were later misappropriated, police say.

Investigators say that they later learned of five additional victims who also invested money with the same suspect.

“It is believed the suspect misappropriated the investment funds from the victims for personal gain,” York Regional Police said in a press release.

Police say that more than $2.5 million was ultimately invested through the suspect.

Sergiy Shchavyelyev, 40, of Toronto, was arrested in December, 2025 and charged with six counts of fraud over $5,000.

Police released his image in a news release on Friday and made a public appeal for anyone with additional information to come forward.

“The investigation is still ongoing and we are putting the male’s photo out because our investigators do believe there are additional victims and encourage them to come forward if they have any similar cases like this one,” Const. Kevin Nebrija told CP24.

Nebrija said that investigators are “still trying to track exactly where” the misappropriated funds may have went but have reasons to believe the money was misappropriated for the suspect’s “own financial gain.”

In the wake of the arrest, Nebrija said that it is a good reminder that “if something feels too good to be true” you should “trust your instinct.”