SINGAPORE - Two Nigerian nationals are expected to be charged in court for their alleged involvement in transnational Internet love scams.

This is the first time that overseas-based suspects involved in such scams have been arrested and sent to Singapore for prosecution, said the police in a statement on Monday (May 13).

The two men, aged 34 and 37, are believed to be part of an African Internet love scam syndicate.

They had allegedly recruited two Singaporean women as money mules to receive criminal proceeds linked to Internet love scams in Singapore between 2017 and 2018.

The women had allegedly received at least $85,000 from victims in Singapore and laundered the money by handing the cash to syndicate members in Malaysia, said the police.

Investigators from Singapore police's Commercial Affairs Department conducted a joint investigation with the Commercial Crime Investigation Department of their Malaysian counterpart, and identified the two men.

Malaysian police then arrested the two men in Kuala Lumpur in an operation on April 16.

The men were brought to Singapore on Monday.

They are to be charged for abetting others to dishonestly receive stolen property.

If convicted, they may be jailed for up to five years and fined.

Police said that in 2018, there were 660 reported cases of cross-border Internet love scams where victims in Singapore were cheated of at least $27.5 million.

Singapore police and their Malaysian counterpart will continue joint efforts to take down such scam syndicates, said the statement.

Commercial Affairs Department director David Chew said: "This joint investigation shows our common resolve to send a strong deterrent message to criminals who are minded to prey on our citizens from the safety of national boundaries - that we can and will work with our foreign counterparts to identify, arrest and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law."