FOUR people suspected of helping a man to launder 350,000 yuan (US$50,913) by using POS machines have been arrested, prosecutors of Fengxian District said.

Their crime came to light after a local resident claimed he had lost 5,500 yuan in a telephone scam last November. Police kept track of the money, which led them to a group in south China’s Hainan Province last December, prosecutors said.

One of them surnamed Feng told police he was helping a Hainan-based scammer, called Fa Ge — literally Brother Wealth — who promised the group a 10-percent kickback from each scam.

Feng said Fa Ge would transfer the ill-gotten money to designated bank cards. Feng, who had these cards, swiped them on his POS machine to transfer the money to his cards. He then returned the cash to Fa Ge.

From October to December 2016, they were involved in scam amounting to 350,000 yuan, he said. Fa Ge is still at large, prosecutors said yesterday.