Vermont authorities have charged 25 Canadian nationals in connection with a nationwide “grandparent scam” that defrauded older Americans out of more than $21 million, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Vermont. 

A federal grand jury in Vermont returned the indictment, which was unsealed Tuesday, bringing money laundering and fraud-related charges.

Twenty-three of the people named in the indictment were arrested Tuesday in Canada, according to the federal prosecutors, with two remaining suspects still at large.

According to the indictment, between the summer of 2021 and June 4, 2024, those charged engaged in a “grandparent scam” involving phone calls made from call centers in and around Montreal. 

“During these phone calls, defendants falsely claimed to be an elderly victim’s relative, typically a grandchild, who had been arrested following a car crash and needed money for ‘bail,’” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Vermont stated. 

Money, according to the charging documents, was later transmitted to Canada after cash deliveries and financial transactions, sometimes involving cryptocurrency.

According to the indictment, in June 2024 law enforcement in Canada raided several call centers where many of the defendants were found in the act of placing phone calls to older victims in Virginia.

The scam, according to federal prosecutors, defrauded older individuals in Vermont and more than 40 other states. 

All 25 people charged in the indictment had addresses in Quebec.

In a statement announcing the charges, Michael Drescher, acting U.S. attorney for Vermont, praised the international cooperation that went into the investigation, highlighting the work of several law enforcement agencies including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. 

Some of those charged in the indictment face up to 40 years, if convicted. Others face up to 20 years behind bars.