CHONGQING -- Police in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality have arrested 97 suspects over a loan fraud case worth 20 million yuan ($3 million) with 7,000 victims across the country, police said Thursday.

The suspects were transferred to the local procuratorate for prosecution late last month, said an officer with the public security bureau of Yubei District.

More than 200 police officers were sent to the provinces of Henan, Shanxi, Hubei and Hebei for the arrest in August.

The suspects, acting under the name of an e-commerce company and its affiliated companies, were found to have lured loan applicants to buy online shopping cards and to shop on their website, without offering them loans.

Police started investigating the case in June after a man surnamed Zhang paid 4,500 yuan ($691) for the shopping card, only acquiring a loan of 1,182 yuan. Advised by company workers, Zhang bought a watch at the company's online shopping platform, but still failed to obtain the 30,000-yuan loan he wanted.

More than 7,000 people victims from 27 provincial regions were tricked, said the police officer.