In a news statement, police said recovered $5.5 million worth of counterfeit certified checks and $2 million worth of additional frauds to "numerous companies across Canada," the Canwest News Service reported.

Edmund Ezemo, 39, was charged with 26 offenses, including seven counts of fraud, nine counts of possession of property obtained by crime, attempted fraud, eight counts of theft and illegal entry into Canada.

Police said the scam involved purchases of electronic devices that were placed in rental cars shipped to Nigeria and reported stolen in Canada by the man who rented them, the report said.

The statement said after a three-month investigation, officers recovered 30 fake credit cards, 20 fraudulent driver licenses, a number of identity cards, passports, health cards and checkbooks from across the country.

"The operation is global and police estimate that millions of dollars worth of equipment and vehicles have been shipped overseas already," the police statement said.