OSAKA -- Police here recently announced that after a yearlong investigation, they have broken up an underground banking operation that funneled an estimated 20 billion yen a year to China through an elaborate network of falsified accounts in Tokyo and Osaka.

Since early 1999, 10 Chinese nationals have been arrested and charged with illegal entry, forging documents and various violations of the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law.

The latest arrests came last month, when two Chinese whom police believed played key roles in sending the money abroad were arrested at an Osaka apartment.