Madrid, May 23 (IANS): Former FC Barcelona President Sandro Rosell was on Tuesday arrested as part of a Civil Guard anti-fraud operation, the Spanish press reports.

Rosell, who was Barcelona president between July 2010 and January 2014, before being forced to resign over irregularities in the signing of Brazilian striker Neymar, has been arrested along with four other people in a police operation named 'Rimet', reports Xinhua news agency.

Searches have been carried out in Barcelona and the Catalan cities of Lleida and Girona, as well as the Principality of Andorra.

The case is investigation the payment of illegal commissions for the television rights of games played by the Brazilian football side. The money from these payments was then laundered through companies based in tax havens, such as Andorra.

Sources believe that Rosell and the former President of the Brazilian Football Federation, Ricardo Teixeira are both involved in the scandal.