Former minister held in corruption probe

Police yesterday arrested a former tourism minister in a probe into corruption in the construction of a soccer stadium in Brazil for the 2014 World Cup and also in connection to alleged fraud at a state-run bank. In a statement, police said they served five arrest warrants, 22 search-and-seizure warrants and brought in six people for questioning. Federal prosecutors said in an emailed statement that one of the men arrested was Henrique Eduardo Alves, a former tourism minister. Former lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha, who is already in prison, also fell under the scope of investigation. Both Alves and Cunha were also targeted because of developments in a fraud investigation at the Caixa Economica Federal, prosecutors said. The bank is Brazil’s largest mortgage lender. There was no immediate response to calls for comment from representatives for Alves and Cunha.