Police said eight Nigerians in China and a Chinese woman made more than 2.4 million yuan ($377,000) by posing as business suppliers and persuading foreign companies in the country to route money to the suspects' bank accounts.

The investigation, which involves two criminal gangs, has been completed, and the suspects have been transferred to the prosecuting agency, police said on Wednesday.

Lu Wei, deputy director of the anti-organized-crime division of the criminal investigation department of Shanghai Public Security Bureau, told China Daily: "This is a cross-border Internet fraud case involving the largest amount of money and the largest number of suspects nationwide in recent years.