Apr.30, 2010, 6:21 PM

MOSCOW, April 30 (UPI) -- A $9 billion money-laundering operation partly run by several Russian bank employees has been broken up by police, the Russian Interior Ministry said.

Four Azerbaijani nationals were detained by police, accused of being involved in the operation laundering about $3 billion a year since 2008, RIA Novosti said Friday.

The currency was suspected to have been generated from illegal business operations, transferred to foreign outlets and smuggled back into Russia, the news agency said.

"It was established that the criminal scheme involved employees of Russian banks and other commercial structures: money was transferred to foreign organizations, cashed, and then smuggled back into Russia," a statement said.

The ministry said fake companies were registered in connection with the scheme in Lithuania, the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan and Cyprus.